


Sweet Kisses from Russia

by LovelyVero



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2015-08-24
Packaged: 2018-01-08 04:00:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 305,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelyVero/pseuds/LovelyVero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On New Year's night, bored by his frivolous life, Klaus suggest to his brother, Elijah, to take the services of a Russian, on-line, marital agency, in hope of finding two women that would accept their proposals. KLAROLINE (Klaus & Caroline) & KALIJAH (Katherine & Elijah) - WARNING: MATURE SUBJECT.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Happy New Year!

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

The Dukes, Klaus Mikaelson and Elijah Mikaelson, are two Original vampires of the rich and famous families of London. Klaus, well known, worldwide, as the Jet Set life multi-millionaire, while collecting conquests, sport cars, and living day by day on the fast lane. Elijah, the less frivolous vampire of the two, with his grander appreciation of life including: music, arts, auctions, and literature, and to whom the joy of eternity summarize in a good game of poker with a glass of Brandy in one hand and a good Cuban cigar in the other.

On New Year's night, bored by his frivolous life, and the lack of good and available women in his life, Klaus suggest to Elijah to take the services of a Russian, on-line, marital agency, in hope of finding two women that would obey and serve them for life. Not entirely sold by the idea, Elijah refuses, firmly, his brother suggestion, before against his good judgment, finally accepting it. But after, both of them, choose the wife that would suit best, the other, an enormous misunderstanding occurred when the wrong woman is chosen for the wrong man.

I present to all of you … _**Sweet Kisses from Russia**_

* * *

_**11:50 p.m. - London – December 31** _ _**st** _ _**, 2012** _

The shrill laughter of the French Countess Dubois, also called the new cherished child of the London Opera, resounded into Klaus's ears like a bad augury that the New Year would start on a sour note. He shook his head, while wincing contemptuously at the blonde bimbo, before wondering if his Original vampire brother, Elijah, was not in the right, after all, to pass his New Year's Eve with a cigar in the corner of his mouth, at a poker table, like a good pappy of one thousand years old. But, ultimately, Countess Dubois had more than an atrocious vibrant voice, her other qualities where more enjoyable to the sight, thought Klaus, while glancing at her deep cleavage, and her opulent chest.

"Oh Duke Mikaelson, you're such a joy …. A real joyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy… I love talking to you, and doing other naughty things of course." The Countess exclaimed, with even more panache than possible in her opera pitched voice, while blinking an eye, before stumbling, giggling, and almost dropping her crystal glass of champagne on the marble floor of the luxurious Dufort Manor, another Royal family of England. "I'm such a clumsy person!" She added, while grabbing Klaus's left forearm, in an attempt to get closer to his muscular body.

"Now what do I hear in the distance?" Klaus asked, while imitating her sinking voice, thinking that he should actually be deaf after passing so much time in the company of Susan Boyle's clone, before putting his right hand, shaped like a cone, near his ear. "Oh yes, I believe your husband is calling you, my dear Leonore."

"Oh, don't be silly, Duke Mikaelson." She responded, with hiccups in the voice. "I don't hear a thing."

"That is because you are deaf after passing so much time in you own company." He mumbled between his teeth, in a low murmur, while rolling his eyes, grabbing her left forearm, pulling her at his side, before taking his first walking steps away from the open terrace.

"What did you just say, Duke…Mi … Mi … Mi ….." The Countess started to sank atrociously in his ears, drunk as much as a human being can be, before continuing. "Fa – Fa – Fa - La – Sol – La - Ti …."

"Do!" Klaus finished the last note, firmly, to reduce the time of his suffering, while wincing at her horrible voice, before leading her to a narrow corridor. "Now, your husband is calling dear, you should find him."

"You think?" The countess asked, with wide opened eyes, while gulping her empty glass. "There's no more champagne in my glass, I think I will cry and scream!"

"NO!" Klaus exclaimed, while taking the empty glasses from her hand, placing it in top of a silver tray from one of a passing waiter, before grabbing a full one. "Here my dear, you're all set. Now, run along my child, your husband is calling."

"Ok, then …" She responded, while pouting and taking unsteady steps toward the corridor that lead her to the ballroom. "Will I see you later to welcome the New Year, Duke Mikaelson? Maybe we could kiss under the stars?" She asked Klaus, while tilting her head.

"Now, that wouldn't be nice for your husband, would it, sweetheart?" Klaus smirked, while pointing a finger in direction of the corridor, toward the loud noise and music.

"Since when do you care about my husband's feelings? He's old and impotent in bed! You're hot and a stallion!" The countess asked and informed, while giggling.

"Am I?" He asked, without being able to avoid a smirk of satisfaction on his lips, before adding. "Well, I care since I've decided to take new resolutions in my life, with this upcoming New Year upon us, my dear." Klaus smirked along this sentence, while putting a hand in her back, before pushing her toward the corridor. "Now, move, move, toward your husband you go!"

"Tata mon chéri, ce n'est qu'un orevoir ..." She shouted to Klaus, in French, while waving her right gloved hand to him.

"Tata … "Adieu" … "Adios"…. and farewell!" Klaus exclaimed, while lowering his forehead on the wall, appreciating the cold effect of the tiles on his skin. She had finally left him! His other choice would have been to compel her to leave, or literally draining every drop of blood from her veins.

He was getting too old for this "Casanova" seduction routine, he thought to himself, while sighing loudly, his eyes closed, before hearing the exclamations that were coming to him from the ballroom:

**10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ….. HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**Should auld acquaintance be forgot,** **And never brought to mind?** **Should auld acquaintance be forgot,** **And auld lang syne!**

**Chorus.-For auld lang syne, my dear,**

**For auld lang syne.** **We'll take a cup o' kindness yet,** **For auld lang syne.**

Klaus turned his body around, while wincing and frowning in disgust, leaning his back and head on the wall, before closing his eyes again. He hated that New Year song, and those humans and their weird ways of never understanding that each New Year would bring a perfect replicate of the previous one, with in addition, its own mistakes, pains and sorrows. We were meant to be inevitably alone, and suffer every single second of our life, and being a vampire only made him remember the one thousand years of sufferance behind him, and the eternity of torture ahead.

"Would you care for a glass of champagne, Sir? I believe the New Years just rang its bells." A waiter asked him, with a big spotless smile, while showing his silver tray.

Klaus glanced at the young man, before grabbing the entire bottle of champagne from the tray. He needed to kill someone before completely loosing it, and this braggart would be perfect.

"Sir, I need this bottle!" The server objected.

"Sir, what? Do you even know to whom you're talking to?" Klaus asked him, while pointing a finger at the young man.

"Duke Mikaelson, I was not meaning any disrespect by this … but …" The young man replied, while blushing and stumbling on his two feet.

Klaus narrowed his sight maliciously at the young man, while smirking, before approaching his standing position.

"Tell me, young man, what are your wishes for the New Year? You should think long and hard about your answers, because, to this point and time, it is a life and death situation." He asked, before turning on himself, and slowly changing into his vampire morphology.

"Oh Sir, I don't know, I mean, whatever life will bring my way, I guess. I don't have any wishes, I'm a lost soul, an empty shell, and just surviving the year would be enough for me. Each year bring its load of sadness I guess." The young man responded in a trembling voice.

Klaus shook his head, wincing, and growling loudly, before returning to his human appearance, and turning on himself to face the waiter.

"Do you realize that you just saved your own pathetic human life by answering this way; I was actually going to drink every ounce of blood out of you!" Klaus said, sadistically.

The young waiter startled at his remark, before taking a few walking steps backward, and thinking that this rich man surely had too much too drink.

"My apologies, Duke Mikaelson, I need to go serve the other guests, now, if you would be kind enough to excuse me." He mumbled nervously to Klaus.

"Then go! Leave, before I change my mind!" Klaus snapped at him, with anger, while seeing the young man running toward the ballroom.

Klaus opened the bottle of champagne, before taking large gulps of the bubbly alcohol, while pulling on his bow tie and throwing the piece of fabric on the marble floor, directing his walking steps toward the opened terrace. Oddly enough no one was present to watch the midnight firework in front of the Big Ben clock of London, the aristocrats of this party were too blasé to even take the time to enjoy this luminous fire effects in the sky. Klaus raised his head to look at the bright lights in the skin, before howling in anger from the top of his lungs, and crashing the bottle of champagne on the pavement.

* * *

_**Moscow – Slum quarters – 6:00 a.m. – New Year's day** _

Katerina Petrova climbed the stairs to reach the ninth floor of her chambers. She and her sister, Carolina, were leaving in this small one room apartment until finally obtaining the opportunity to leave this dumb and Russia all together.

"Happy New Year, Katerina." The gorgeous Russian brunette heard her old neighbour, Ingrid, say to her, while passing her head, carefully, under her own arch door. "You worked late, again, and on a New Year's eve, nonetheless."

"Is it New Year?" Katerina shrugged her shoulders, while dragging one's feet toward her own door and turning her head to glance at Ingrid, before entering the key in the lock. "Another shitty year that is starting, aren't we lucky!" She added, slyly, to the neighbour, before smiling timidly and adding. "Yes, there was more work at the manufactory. Happy New Year, Ingrid, may God be with you, may God be with all of us."

"Thank you, my child." The old lady responded, before adding. "You look tired, both you and your sister are working too hard."

"If we want to keep this palace over our heads, we have no other choice. " Katerina responded, while turning the key, before showing with a hand gesture the flaking of the paint and mildew on the corridor walls, of the old building.

"We had another cut of electricity during the night." Ingrid added, with despair.

"That is nothing new, is it?" Katerina shrugged more, while bundling up in her winter coat. "I guess I'll sleep with my coat on, once more, for a couple of hours. And we'll need to open the stove to reheat the apartment."

"Did you receive any news from the marital agency?" Ingrid added, in a low whisper.

Katerina sighed loudly, while shaking her head.

"No, not yet, if I could at least place Carolina with a good man somewhere in the world, my job would be done as her guardian." She explained to her neighbour, before closing her eyes.

"And you, Katerina? What will happen to you?" Ingrid asked, while tilting her head in sadness.

"I'm getting too old; no man would want or need a thirty years old woman as a wife, and in his bed." Katerina murmured, while sighing, and rolling her eyes.

"But you're sending your little one toward that faith?" Ingrid mumbled, while shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'll send my sister toward a chance of getting out of this country, fight poverty and find freedom." Katherine replied, angrily, while closing her fists. "She'll learn how to satisfy this man in more ways than one, to have money in return."

"Poverty is everywhere in the world my child, it doesn't mean that you need to loose your respect, and send your own sister to prostitution. Katerina, listen to me, you'll send Carolina toward a life filled with sadness and obligation toward a man that she won't love." Ingrid replied, before adding with a sadder tone of voice. "Don't think that I don't know how you manage with the supplement of income, I saw the men that are bringing you back to the apartment, sometimes, late in the nights."

"It's not of your damn business old woman." Katerina replied, while raising her chin, with tears filling her eyes.

"My child, you're worth more than being an escort!" Ingrid added. "You're a beautiful and intelligent woman, Katerina."

"I'm a poor Russian woman that needs to do what is necessary to put bread on our table." Katerina replied, while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"But those men are taking advantage of your poor situation, they are pigs!" Ingrid exclaimed.

"Aren't they all?" They heard a feminine Russian voice replied, before turning their heads toward Carolina.

"What are you doing up in this late hour, sister?" Katerina exclaimed, in surprise.

"I went out." Carolina replied, enthusiastically, while showing several Russian ruble in front of her older sister, Katerina. "Look I made quite a lot of money and I also bought a bottle of champagne for us to celebrate the New Year." She added, with a big smile on her face.

Katerina approached her sister's standing position, before grabbing her left forearm forcefully and bringing her toward their apartment.

"What did you do?" She exclaimed, in anger. "What did you do, Carolina?"

"I did nothing, let go of me! I only had a good time with foreign tourists, and they paid me for it." She responded, to her sister, proud of her achievement.

"Enter inside the apartment!" Katerina ordered her younger sister, while pushing Carolina inside, before lowering her forehead on the arch.

"I've warned you, Katerina, that She'd follow your foot steps soon enough." Ingrid said, while shaking her head in disbelief, before closing the door of her apartment on a speechless Katerina.

* * *

_**London – Mikaelson's Manor – 1:00 a.m., New Year's Day** _

The shrill noise of the entrance door hitting its arch loudly, startled Elijah, who was sipping a late glass of Brandy, his nose buried into a poetry book in the master study room, while comfortably sitting in a leather arm chair placed in front of the burning woods in the fire mantle.

Klaus stumbled into several furniture placed in his drunken walking path, into the corridor, while swearing to all the devils, before pushing, open, the door of the study.

"Brother, I'm home!" He exclaimed, sarcastically, while rising in the air, a bottle of Bourdon that he was holding in his right hand, before gulping some more. "Happy, fucking, New Year, Mate!"

Elijah glanced rapidly at Klaus, before getting back to his book.

"You're back so soon in the night, Niklaus?" He replied politely. "And drunk in addition to be your annoying self as always."

Klaus stumbled on the desk, before finally finding his way toward an arm chair placed in front of Elijah's sitting position, while finally taking his own.

"I'm bored, Elijah, I need to change my life. I'm not even a decent vampire anymore." Klaus mumbled, angrily between his teeth.

Elijah raised his sight, before closing his book on his legs, and joining his hands together to glance at his brother.

"Ok, Niklaus, I'll bite for this time, to this amazing performance of yours. What happened in your frivolous life that is making you reconsider your entire eternal existence?" Elijah asked him, while smirking.

"There's nothing more to see or to learn." Klaus mumbled, while staring at the amber liquid in the bottle.

"So, what was the name of your latest conquest this time?" Eljah asked, sarcastically.

"She had no name and that is the point, no woman in the world is even able to capture my attention." Klaus responded, while shrugging his shoulders. "We are left with our pathetic life, eternally alone, while watching the years, decades and centuries passing in front of our eyes, and while being the most feared creatures, how pathetic is that, Elijah?"

Elijah shrugged his shoulders, while sighing, and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Humanity is always expanding in its culture, Klaus. It's you who is too close minded to even see it." He replied.

"Tell me something, Elijah." Klaus asked, while pointing a finger below Elijah's pants invisible belt line. "Does your little friend have the urge to discover the world sometimes? Aren't you bored with your books and games of poker?"

"Did you just call me out on my sex life, Klaus?" Elijah asked, while tilting his head, in astonishment.

"Yes, I believe, I've just called you out on your sex life, mate." Klaus reaffirmed. "…Which, at this present moment, lets be frank, is none existent!"

"I beg your pardon!" Elijah replied, while gesturing with his hands. "We can't all be known as the next Casanova of London, Niklaus, I have a certain class attached to my name."

"Yap, a certain class named: BORING!" Klaus replied, while rolling his eyes.

"I have enough of your pity party, for this New Year's night, Klaus." Elijah replied, with anger, to his brother, while grabbing the book on his knees, and getting back to his reading.

Klaus stared at his brother for a few seconds, before smirking and counting the seconds before Elijah's burst of rage: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 …

"And so you will know..." Elijah got back into the conversation, while throwing the book on a near side table, before rising on his two legs. "I have a perfect, healthy, normal sex life. The Countess Gilbert and I, we were in a good relationship for more than a year."

"Oh for Good sake, Elijah, the Countess Elena Gilbert was a marble statue on two legs!" Klaus exclaimed, while rising in a standing position as well. "She had one facial expression coming out of her. I'm not even sure that she was able to scream her pleasure in the actual sexual act.

"Now, you're crossing a line, Niklaus." Elijah warned, angrily. "I demand an apology from your part."

"Well, maybe you should cross one line for once in your life, brother." Klaus replied, with his hands place on each side of his waist. "And screw the apology, this was the truth. We're literally old and alone, placed in the middle of humanity that is falling to his hell. Grant me a free pass, Elijah, for wanting more than this shit of a life that I've been living since centuries."

Elijah lowered his head, while sliding his hands in his pants pockets, and approaching the fire mantle, his sight lost in the flames.

"You're maturing, Niklaus. Life can't stay as linear as you want it to be. Being eternal or not, it doesn't change a thing." Elijah mumbled, between his teeth.

"Then, God as my witness, our loneliness should end as well as our eternal life." Klaus responded, angrily, before storming out of the study room.

* * *

"What did you do?" Katerina asked his sister, while closing the door of their apartment behind her.

"Don't be mad, but, I've joined the escort agency. They had foreign customers for me tonight and I was able to make a good amount of money, and bring a bottle of champagne for us to celebrate the New Year." Carolina responded proud of herself, while smiling and showing the bottle to her sister.

"Are you crazy, Carolina?" Katerina exploded, while grabbing the bottle from her sister's hands. "What were you thinking for God sake? I am working my ass off to find a way to get you out of this miserable life, and yet you want it more?"

"Don't be mad, Katerina. I only did what I thought was best. I wanted to do something for you for a change." Carolina replied, while rubbing her hands nervously.

"Look at you!" Katerina exclaimed, while pointing the short skirt that her young sister was wearing. "You're dressed like a whore! It's freezing outside. Did one of those men touch you?"

"No, nobody touched me, I swear." Carolina replied, while shaking her head.

"And it has to stay that way, you were lucky enough that none of them wanted to sleep with you." Katerina replied, while removing her coat, and turning on the burners of the stove.

"I'm still a virgin!" Caroline replied, while lowering her head, in shame.

"Good! And it has to stay that way." Katerina replied, while approaching her sister, and holding Carolina's face in her hands. "You need to stay pure and perfect for your future husband. We'll find you a good man that will take care of you for a long time, ok?"

Carolina frowned, but finally agreed to her sister's saying by nodding her head.

"Ok, Katerina…" She replied, while promising herself in silence, to never being stuck in a loveless marriage.

"Good." Katerina replied, while smiling timidly to her sister, and grabbing the bottle in her hands. "Now, what would you say if we open this bottle of champagne for breakfast?"

"Happy New Year, Katerina, I love you so much." Carolina murmured, while taking her older sister in her arms.

"Happy New Year, Carolina, my baby." Katerina whispered, while caressing her sister's hair, and feeling tears rolling on her cheeks.

* * *

Klaus entered his master suite bedroom, before closing the door behind him, with a firm kick of his right feet on its wood, while directing his walking steps toward his desk. He sat on his desk chair, while elevating his feet on its desktop, before slowly scrolling the New Year's wishes received in his mailbox.

"Happy New Year old Klausy, Signed: Kol." Klaus said out loud, while smirking. "Well, here's one who's faithful to his jerkiness." Klaus continued scrolling. "Now, I will only wish you a Happy New Year if you promise to stay out of my love life, signed: Rebekah." Klaus read some more, before smirking and adding. "That will be over my dead ashes, little sister!"

He closed his eyes for a short moment, while passing a hand over his face, and sighing loudly, turning his attention back to his laptop screen, while frowning.

"Russian Marital agency: Find the most beautiful Russian women to please all your desire." Klaus read, before lowering his feet on the carpet floor of his bedroom. "What do we have here?" He smirked, while clicking on the link.

* * *

"Elijah!" Klaus called, from the top of his lungs, before pushing the door, and entering the study room, while holding his laptop in his hands.

"Should I even ask?" Elijah replied, while keeping his eyes in his book.

"Look?" Klaus said, while pulling the book away from his hands, and placing the laptop on his brother lap instead.

"What now, Niklaus?" Elijah asked, while taking a quick glance at the screen.

"See, this is the answer to all of our problems!" Klaus said proudly, while smirking.

Elijah raised his eyes to quickly take a look at his brother, before sighing loudly, and returning his attention to the screen.

"Russian Marital Agency: Find the most beautiful Russian women to please all your desire." Elijah read, while shrugging his shoulders. "…And?"

Klaus smirked some more, while nodding his head.

"Did you lose your mind, Niklaus!" Elijah exclaimed, in shock, while handing the laptop back to his brother, and rising, once again, on his feet. "The answer is: No!"

"Why?" Klaus asked, dumfounded. "We're rich, we can buy for ourselves two wives … No, pardon this misspell, Elijah, I meant two sexy, as hell, Russian wives that will obey us."

"No, let me rephrase: You have lost your mind." Elijah replied, while shaking his head, both of his hands placed on each side of his waist. "This is nothing more than camouflage prostitution."

"See, and in top of everything, they will be experimented in bed! It's a win-win!" Klaus exclaimed more, shameless.

"It's still no!" Elijah mumbled angrily between his teeth, while directing his furious walking steps toward the exit of the study room.

"Oh come on, Elijah!" Klaus shouted, behind his back, while trying to retain him.

"No!" Elijah screamed one last time, before slamming the door behind him.

"Ok, fair enough, brother. Go sleep on it." Klaus murmured, with a devious smile. "I'm sure you'll get around the idea sooner than later."


	2. The first meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Moscow – One of the matrimonial agencies - Arcadia** _

" _Katerina, you're making me nervous." Carolina told her sister, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat._

_They had been ask to wait in this small office of the Arcadia Matrimonial Agency, downtown Moscow, and Katerina was walking back and forth in front of Carolina's sitting position._

" _I can't help it." Katerina responded, while biting her nails nervously, before passing a hand through her long, curly, brown hair. "They call! That can only mean that they have a potential husband for you."_

" _We have no idea why they call us here? Maybe it is just to fill other papers?" Carolina replied to Katerina, while rubbing her hands nervously together._

" _We have filled hundred of stupid papers already." She responded, before sitting on a chair beside her sister. "No, this is it, Carolina. I can feel it in my guts. This is it, you've been chosen." Katerina responded, while smiling, turning on her seat to face her sister and grabbing both of Carolina's arms._

_Carolina smiled timidly back to her sister, while hoping for the contrary upcoming, scenario. This all Russian Matrimonial thing had been the idea of Katerina from the start. Her sister wanted a better path for Carolina, away from Russia and the remaining of their, hard, day to day, life. But, the younger sister was not entirely sold with the idea of giving her life, body and soul, to a stranger, with the addition of losing her sister forever. She was so not sold with her sister's idea, that she had a plan to run away, if necessary, to avoid leaving in a foreign country, with a stranger, that would become her husband for life._

" _I don't want to loose you." Carolina whispered, while drowning her teary eyes in her sisters'._

" _Carolina, listen to me… You won't loose me….We'll…" Katerina started explaining to her sister, before lowering her head and sight away from the piercing gaze of her sister. "We'll write to each other, we'll talk to each other on the phone, we'll find a way to keep in touch, in spite of the distance." She added, while holding her sister's hands in hers._

" _But it's not the same as seeing you every day, Katerina." Carolina replied, while closing her eyes._

" _Look at me, sister." Katerina started explaining, while raising Carolina's chin in her right hand. "You can't blow this chance into million of pieces, you need to embrace the chance life will give you at this new start."_

_The office door opened widely, while letting in under its arch, a very tall, thin, middle age woman, who pushed it close a second later, directing her high heels black shoes toward the other side of the desk, while carrying a file, before throwing it open on the desktop and taking in her hands a match to light her golden cigarette holder._

_Katerina kept her sight glued to each of her movement, while squeezing Carolina's hands in hers._

" _So?" She asked, while sitting on the edge of her chair. "Does my sister have a man interested in marrying her?"_

_The thin and cantankerous woman raised her cold sight in the one of Katerina, before taking a puff of her cigarette holder._

" _Yes." She simply replied, after a long while._

" _Are you sure?" Katerina asked again, while turning her body and sight toward her sister, who had lost all her colours._

" _Yes." The woman added once again._

_Katerina raised on her feet from her sitting position, before pacing back and forth in the small office._

" _What are the next steps? What is Carolina supposed to do now? Write to him? Phone him? How does it work?" She asked, in all nervousness._

" _Katerina, please … Listen, maybe we should talk about this, and take a step back before deciding anything." Carolina tried to plead to her older sister._

" _There is nothing to talk about, Carolina this is your big break." Katerina replied, while approaching her sister sitting position and caressing her hair._

" _Actually it's both your big brakes." The agency woman responded, while smoking her cigarette slowly, before resting her back on the leather office chair._

" _What?" Both Petrova's sisters replied simultaneously, and in astonishment._

" _What do you mean it's both our big brakes?" Katerina asked once more, while resuming her sitting position._

_The emotionless lady took the file back in her hands, while looking, attentively, at several pages._

" _The file says that the applicants are two, wealthy, English brothers who apparently have chosen both of you." The lady informed them more._

" _Are these two English men from America?" Katerina demanded, with a mouth open expression plastered on her face._

" _No, they are from Britain." The lady responded, while shaking her cigarette holder near the crystal ashtray._

" _Oh my God … Katerina, you'll leave with me!" Carolina exclaimed, in joy, her left hand placed over her chest, while grabbing the hand of her sister and feeling tears rolling on her cheeks._

" _It can't be." The said one replied, still in shock, while shaking her head. "Are you sure one of them has chosen me also?"_

" _Yes." The lady replied. "And they are willing to even triple the amount of the package fair to have you as their wives as soon as possible."_

" _You've said that they were wealthy, who are they?" Katerina demanded to know._

" _Certainly not the kind of men that we've seen makes those applications in this agency before." The lady responded, while rolling her eyes._

" _What do you mean?" Carolina asked._

" _They are Dukes." The agency lady replied._

" _What do you mean Dukes?" Katerina exclaimed, more shocked than ever._

" _I meant it as literal as possible. They are from the royal family of Britain." The lady replied, while shaking her head, herself surprised._

" _What do you mean Royalty?" Katerina repeated, while drowning her sight in the emptiness of the room, before adding, while once more getting up on her two legs. "But, it makes no sense, why would they need the services of this trashy agency to find a set of wives from Russia; they have the opportunities to meet those fancy ladies in every balls or parties they'll go." She added, while gesturing nervously with her hands and arms. "If they think that we'll be available for their sick sexual fantasies of the moment, they'll have me to show them otherwise!"_

_The lady raised an eyebrow at her remarks, while coughing, before crashing the last remaining of her cigarette in the ashtray._

" _No disrespect intended about the agency." Katerina added, while blushing, before crossing her arms in front of her chest and shrugging her shoulders._

" _We are not here to question the motifs of our wealthy clients, you shouldn't either, or you wouldn't have offered your names as candidates for a foreign marriage." The lady responded, slyly. "As for their sexual fantasies, it's also none of the agency's business. They have enrolled in this agency for legitimately marry two women at the end of this process. This said they are exactly like any other applicants. If you are not interested anymore, you need to tell me now?"_

_Katerina sighed loudly, before retaking her sitting position on the chair, and calm herself down._

" _Will we live near from each other … I mean, me and my sister?" She demanded, with a shaking voice._

" _You'll be staying, both of you, at the same residence, with your two prospect husbands." The agency lady replied, before adding. "All this information will be giving, to each of you, in due time, and by writing in your contracts."_

" _What … What is the next step?" Carolina asked, with a shaking voice._

" _You'll be asked to communicate with your future husband for the first time, in a private room of the agency." The lady replied._

" _Phone?" Carolina asked more._

" _We are in the modern time." The lady replied, with little patience left in her. "Therefore, you'll be in communication via a webcam and a laptop."_

" _I'm sorry, I should have known…" Carolina replied, while blushing and lowering her head._

" _Unfortunately for us, we don't have the chance to enjoy the technology of our modern time." Katerina responded, tit for tat, while raising her chin as a confrontational gesture. "Or we wouldn't offer our services as wives to perfect strangers."_

" _Well, that won't be your problem anymore, if you accept this marriage proposal, you'll have the wealthiest that you always desired." The lady replied, while titling her head, before adding. "So, do we have a deal?"_

_Katerina turned her head toward her sister at the same time Carolina turned hers, before timidly smiling to each other._

* * *

" _Klaus!" Elijah shouted several times through the quietness of the mansion's corridors, while walking rapidly from door to door, with his hands placed on each side of his waist, bothered and angry by the obvious absence of his brother. "Damn you!" He added, while turning on his heels to come back to his private office, before slamming the door on its arch, in a loud noise, and walking to reach his desk. "You find a way to make me give a try at this ludicrous idea of marriage with a foreign woman, and then you are missing your first webcam meeting with your own, soon to be, wife." He growled a little more._

_Elijah sat in his luxurious leather desk chair, while opening the screen of his laptop, the webcam, the high-tech speakers, before rubbing his chin in a mix of angriness and nervousness._

" _What am I supposed to say to that poor – innocent girl now?" Elijah mumbled, angrily, once more._

_The deal was for Elijah to choose Klaus's future wife and for Klaus to choose Elijah's, while trying to keep true to their taste in women._

_The screen opened on its welcome screen, asking for its private password, Elijah opened the internet explorer before reading the instructions to make the connection with the Russian agency, while using a private applicant number, before seeing a private message appearing in front of his eyes in flashing red letters._

_Mr._ _**Klaus Mikaelson** _ _, your private session in our luxurious lounge_

_With:_

_Miss_ _**Katerina Petrova** _

_Starts in 30 seconds_

_29_

_28_

_27_

…

" _Damn you Niklaus!" Elijah mumbled, between his teeth, while passing a quick, nervous hand through his perfect styled hair, before lowering his head in his hands, while sighing loudly, and closing his eyes to calm himself down._

" _Klaus Mikaelson?" He heard a feminine voice, with a strong Russian accent, addressed itself to him in perfect English._

_Elijah slowly raised his head, before drowning his eyes in the ones of the magnificent brunette that was standing in front of his sight. Yes, he had chosen that specific woman for his brother, and had seen her picture through the hundred that he had to look at on the Agency site, but she was without a single doubt in his mind, even more beautiful then expected._

" _I'm Katerina Petrova." She added, in a neutral tone of voice, while raising her chin, and keeping her sight on Elijah's visual image on her screen. "You're …. The man named Klaus?"_

_Elijah narrowed his sight at her, while lowering himself on the back of his office chair, before opening the button of his Armani suit jacket, taking completely aback by the majestic aura of that woman._

" _Actually, I apologize for …. "He started explaining, before being cut in the middle of his sentence._

" _You're old." She suddenly said, while frowning and raising an eyebrow at him._

" _I beg your pardon?" Elijah replied in shock, while approaching his laptop screen._

_The young woman was sitting in a private closed lounge room, in a comfortable velvet armchair placed in front of a desktop. She was wearing a green turtleneck sweater, that was accentuating her fit figure and the roundness of her breasts, Elijah couldn't do without noticing._

" _Well, you seem to be older than I thought you would be." Katerina replied, while shrugging her shoulders._

" _And that is bothering you?" Elijah replied to the Russian woman, with a smirk on his lips._

" _I'm not very young myself, so who am I to be bothered by your age." She shrugged more, before adding in a blunt way. "I'm surprised that you could be interested by me, and not a younger woman?"_

_Elijah smiled more, before lowering his upper body on the back of his leather chair, his chin placed in his right hand._

" _You're not even thirty." He replied, while keeping his sight in hers._

" _I'll be thirty in two months." She replied, while staying emotionless. "You're older, aren't you?" She couldn't retain the question._

" _You could say that…" Elijah replied, amused. "But not much older than you…And you thought that I would be interested in a sugar daddy relationship with my future, much younger, wife, perhaps? Not my style, I like to be equal to my partner." He asked her, as blunt._

" _The thought crossed my mind." She replied. "It's the all suit thing that is aging you." She added, while pointing a finger at his clothes. "And your hair is styled in a way that is making you look older too." She added._

" _Anything else you want to add to the list?" He asked, while raising an eyebrow, and crossing his arms in front of his chest._

" _Not at the present moment, thank you." She replied to him, while straightening her upper body on the chair. "At least you're not as old and as ugly that I thought you would be." She added, with a long sigh._

" _You've imagined that I was ugly, old, and what else?" Elijah requested, amused._

" _Impotent…" She added, still as blunt as ever._

_Elijah lowered his head backward before bursting into loud laughter._

" _Oh … Delightful Katerina…" He started, while returning his attention on the screen. "I can assure you that I am everything but impotent." He replied to her, with a big smile plastered on his lips._

" _Well, a woman needs to know those personal things." She replied to him, while blushing for the first time since the beginning of this virtual meeting._

" _So, you think that the sexual part of a marriage is very important then?" Elijah asked more._

" _Don't you?" She said, tit for tat._

" _It's me who've asked the question." Elijah replied once more, with a smirk plastered on his face._

" _If the marriage is faked so can be the sex … If the marriage is real so can be the sex." She explained, while shrugging her shoulders more._

" _You think that our marriage will be counterfeit?" He demanded._

" _I don't know the meaning of the last English word?" She said, honestly._

" _Fake?" He added._

" _I don't know…I don't know you." She replied honestly._

" _I don't know you either." Elijah replied, while smirking even more._

" _I think that if we don't play the amorous couple, or being hypocritical about this relationship. We could find a good agreement." She replied, honestly, while raising her chin in the air._

" _You always go right to the point, don't you?" Elijah said to the brunette._

" _Isn't it the point of this meeting finalizing the agreement?" She asked in her blunt way._

" _Indeed." Elijah replied._

" _If you are not too bad to me, and threat me with respect, I could probably sleep with you in the future." She added. "Isn't it what you are concerned about?"_

" _Well, I'm happy to hear that." Elijah responded, before bursting into laughter one more time, before adding. "Katerina, I am not concerned the least about that."_

" _Why?" She asked, curious._

" _Because, I always get what I want." He informed her, while making Katerina startled on her chair._

" _Why me?" She asked more._

" _Why not?" He responded._

" _You are rich … You could have a lot of women." She stipulated. "Younger women…" She added more, with a smirk._

" _None of them would be able to have this verbal joust with me at the moment." He smirked, while making her smile. "I'm easily bored…Called it the age." He mocked her more._

_A beep sound was suddenly heard with a message appearing on their respective screen:_

_This present session will close itself in:_

_60 seconds_

_59…_

_58…_

_57…_

" _You need to inform the agency if I am not what you are looking for." Katerina informed, while swallowing a lump of nervousness in her throat._

" _What makes you think that you are not what I'm looking for?" Elijah asked her._

" _I could be easy on the eyes, but I am hard to handle." She responded, frankly._

" _So am I." Elijah replied, tit for tat, while making her smile for the second time._

_22…_

_21…_

_20…._

" _I'm …." She started asking, before taking a small pause, and finally demanding. "I'm curious, is your brother Elijah a good man?"_

_Elijah raised his sight in hers, in surprise. In a life coincidence, Elijah knew that they, him and his brother, had chosen sisters._

" _You're afraid for the faith of your sister? Aren't you?" He asked, bluntly for once._

" _Yes." She replied, honestly._

" _He's a good man." He responded._

_9…_

_8…_

_7…_

" _Katerina?" He called her._

" _Yes?" She replied._

" _It's you that I want." He finally said._

_2…_

_1…_

_0_

* * *

_Carolina turned the key into the lock of the private lounge, before lowering her forehead on the door, closing her eyes and sighing loudly._

" _You need to be strong, Carolina, be strong!" She murmured on her lips, before raising her head and walking into the private internet lounge._

_The room was luxurious and welcoming for its purpose: an L-shape leather sofa, with fluffy pillows aligned together, in all shapes and colour, a low coffee table with several foreign fashion magazines, a tray with an assortment of beverages, a mahogany wood desk with a velvet arm chair in front of a laptop placed on its desktop._

_She closed the switch of the ceiling lamp, before slowly approaching the roller blind of the only window, closing them on the last sunlight of this Moscow winter day. Then she opened a small lamp placed on the desk, near the laptop, lowering her handbag on the blue carpet, while getting rid of her boots, and winter coat._

_Carolina was wearing a crossover white wool sweater dress, with her blond hair cascading freely on her shoulders, and only a trace of a light pink lipstick on her lips. She looked at the only jewellery she owned, her mother's watch, while noticing that she had ten more minutes left before the showdown._

_What her mother would have thought of those arranged marriages? Carolina thought to herself while closing her eyes and feeling tears filling her eyelids._

_She knew basically nothing about the man who wanted to marry her, except that his name was Elijah Mikaelson … Duke Elijah Mikaelson._

_The laptop screen suddenly light up with flashy numbers of a countdown: ten more minutes._

_Carolina sat in front of the screen, while rubbing her hands together in all nervousness._

_She had no idea what to do or what to expect? But she knew that this was like a verbal contract between herself and a man that desired her in his life as a wife, and more so, a woman in his bed!_

_ooOoo_

" _Elijah!" Klaus shouted into the main parlour of the Manor, while opening the French doors widely, before scattering all the downstairs rooms, climbing on the second level and not finding a single trace of his older brother. "Damn it where are you brother?" Klaus screamed more, before growling his frustration and adding on a lower note to himself. "I mixed up the hours for both meetings!" He added, while shaking his head, in despair._

_First, he had missed the first chance of being able to meet the woman Elijah had pick for him, secondly, he would now need to log in to the agency site to talk to the one that he had picked for his brother. He rolled his eyes, before reaching the private quarter of his suite, walking toward his desk, and opening his laptop._

_The connection was made easily; he could see clearly the message flashing in front of his eyes._

_Mr._ _**Elijah Mikaelson** _ _, your private session in our luxurious lounge_

_With:_

_Miss_ _**Carolina Petrova** _

_Starts in 30 seconds_

_29_

_28_

_27_

…

_If he would think about it, while smirking and lowering his head on the back of his office chair, with both of his hands crossed behind his head, and his legs and leather biker boots elevated on the desktop, he could easily pretend that he was his brother, for this time only, of course…Now, why did he not think of it sooner? That could even be fun?_

_**You're connected** _

" _I'm Carolina Petrova…" He heard a harmonious feminine accented voice addressed itself to him while suddenly raising his sight in the one of the beautiful blonde on his laptop screen._

" _I was not expecting anyone else, Love." He responded, with a sarcastic smile on his lips. "I'm K…Elijah." He added, while letting his wandering sight slide on her silky, long, blonde hair, the delicateness of her neck, where he could easily see the pumping blue vein on its right side._

" _I know who you are. I was not expecting my prince charming." She replied slyly, while making him loose his smile._

" _My … My … You are certainly a sharp tongue." He responded, while raising an eyebrow._

" _And you are certainly not well educated. My mother always told me that it was impolite for a man to put his feet on a table." She added, with a vicious smile "Are you an impolite man, Mister Elijah, or simply a rich one?"_

" _It's a desktop, Love." Klaus responded, tit for tat, with a smirk on his lips, while being literally hypnotized by her presence and audacity. "And it's my home; therefore I do what I please. Do you want me to be impolite with you? Are you into role playing games, beautiful Carolina?"_

" _Are you always trying to find a way to argue?" She asked him, before raising a questioning eyebrow to him as well, while noticing his younger age, than expected. "Or is it that you always want to be right in every argument that you're having with a woman?" She asked more, while crossing her arms in front of her deep cleavage, where his sight was now travelling, before noticing that he had dark blonde, curly hair, and piercing blue eyes. "The question for me is more: Are you into role playing games, Mister Elijah?"_

_Klaus lowered his feet and legs on the floor, before frowning and narrowing his sight on the young woman that was sitting in an armchair, her fiery sight on him. She literally wanted to fight with him – Him, Klaus Mikealson!_

" _I'm always interested at playing games…I love the thrill of being the hunter tracking his prey, but, not at the present moment, sweetheart." He responded, with a malicious smile curving his lips. A fight she wanted, a fight she would have! "I just want to check the merchandise that is offered to me by the agency, before buying it of course."_

_Carolina startled on her chair, while biting her bottom lips. He was a wicked, disturbed man, exactly like she had been expected that he would be. Who would take a perfect stranger as a wife, except if the said man would have ugly, low, and despicable instincts to fill? He older sister, Katerina, would not back down of this chance of leaving their country, but Carolina would promise herself that this man would never put a hand on her, she would find a way to escape or die if necessary, before that would happen…But, for the time being she needed to play his sick game._

" _You want to verify the merchandise?" She repeated, while raising her chin in a confrontational manner. If he thought that he could intimidate a Petrova, he would soon realized that she was not one of being so easily intimidated by the presence of this English, rich man, who seemed to be so full of himself._

" _Yes." Klaus responded, before lowering his upper body on the back of his chair. "I will pay good money for your services; therefore, the least that I can receive in return is some kind of insurance that the merchandise is good quality."_

_Elijah would definitely killed him for this, but at the present moment, he could not back down from the most thrilling, exciting joust that he had ever experimented with a woman in thousands of years…That one got fire!_

" _Fine!" She responded, before rising on her two legs, pulling away the arm chair, with an angry push of her right feet, raising the electronic eye of the webcam, before taking a few backward walking steps away from the desk._

_Carolina stood in front of the camera, with a cold and emotionless stare, before untying the belt of her crossover dress, letting the fabric fall at her feet, unhooking her bra, and throwing it on the floor, as well, in front of a speechless – mouth opened Klaus._

" _Is the merchandise enough good quality for you?" She asked him, coldly, while standing semi-naked in front of his sight._

_ooOoo_

_Klaus kept his sight in hers in all time, in a joust of silent power between the young Russian woman and this thousand year's hybrid Original vampire._

" _I don't want my future wife to act like a whore." He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

_A slap in the face would not have been worst than the cruelty of his words, Carolina thought, while startling and frowning at the insult, but she also knew that she had sought for this to happen, for this man anger to come to the surface. He had a weakness in him, and that information could get handy someday._

" _Dress yourself!" He ordered her, nervously, while rising up from his sitting position and pacing back and forth in front of his laptop. "Now!" He ordered more, in a louder voice._

_She jumped at the sound of his ordering voice, before bending her upper body, grabbing her dress and bra on the floor, turning her back at him, and quickly dressing herself._

" _Now sit!" He ordered some more._

_Carolina pulled the armchair back to its position in front of the camera and laptop, before taking her sitting position, while noticing that he was sitting on his chair now, with a closed expression on his face._

_The beep sound was suddenly heard with a message appearing on their respective screen:_

_This present session will close itself in:_

_60 seconds_

_59…_

_58…_

_57…_

" _You'll have to learn to obey me." Klaus warned her._

" _I'm not one who obeys easily." Carolina responded._

" _You'll learn." He added._

" _Maybe you could find another candidate more willing to obey you?" She suggested, fearless, while raising her chin._

" _And missing the joy to hunt the beautiful prey that you are?" Klaus responded, with a devious smile on his lips, making her loose the colours on her cheeks._

_22…_

_21…_

_20…._

" _You're making a mistake…In choosing me." Carolina finally replied, with a growing feeling of hate inside of her._

" _I doubt it …I'm not known at making mistake…" Klaus responded._

" _If you want, I will marry you, you can even force yourself on me … But, I will never love you." She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth. "If I was you, I would choose another, more fitted candidate."_

_Klaus startled and frowned at her mention of a loveless life. Wasn't it his curse since his birth?_

" _Who says I'm interested in this "love" thing you're talking about?" Klaus maliciously responded. "Maybe, I am just into playing twisted game as choosing a foreign woman to become my obeying wife?"_

_12…_

_11…_

_10…_

" _You life with me in it, we'll be a living hell." She said, harshly to him._

" _This is music to my ears." He responded, with the biggest smirk on his lips, before adding. "I'll contact the agency; you're the woman that I want."_

_Carolina startled, while swallowing a big lump of nervousness in her throat. Her life would be soon tied up to this despicable man._

"… _Until we meet face to face, "my" Carolina." He added, deviously._

_3…_

_2…_

_1…._

_0_


	3. Two, one-way tickets to London

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

" _And what will be your genius plan to get us out of this mess, Niklaus?" Elijah asked, with a made tone of voice, while pacing back and forth in his Manor's office, in front of his brother, both of his hands firmly placed on each side of his waist. "We've signed an agreement with the agency, for God sake, and now we've mixed our own identities!" He exclaimed, while pointing an accusatory finger toward his brother. "By your own fault, if I may add, if you hadn't switched the hours of the meetings we wouldn't be stuck in that mess to begin with."_

" _Well" Klaus mumbled, falsely sorry, before turning on himself, while showing his back to his brother…Now, If only his plan could work? Come on Elijah, bite into the bait! "I could in the goodness of my heart take the woman that I had chosen for you, and you could take the one you have chosen for me. It wouldn't be such a problem, would it?" He suggested, while smirking in amusement. "I believe it would be the best solution to our problem. Carolina is kind of shy and reserve; she would be the worst choice for you. But, she'll be my problem to handle now. And after all, I'm the one she has seen as her future potential husband." Klaus lied through his teeth._

_Elijah stopped his incessant pacing, while raising an eyebrow with interest toward his brother, his lips twisted in a left corner grin; this was an interesting turn of event. His brother seemed to literally bite into his bait._

" _Well, it wouldn't be very ethical of us, would it?" Elijah played the game, shamelessly, before crossing his arms in front of his chest, while noticing that his plan was actually going in the right direction, maybe he wouldn't have to convince his demoniac brother to keep Carolina after all, and in the meantime, he would be able to keep Katerina as his promise wife. Since the webcam meeting, he hadn't been able to get that brunette out of his mind._

" _Elijah, Elijah, Elijah….When will you realize that you and your honor will never find their rightful places in this hypocritical humanity. You seriously think that this agency has any kind of honor in itself? Let me laugh then." Klaus explained, while turning his body around to face his brother, before taking a few walking steps to reach Elijah's standing position and drowning his sight in his. "It's a business contract, nothing more, nothing less for them. They'll give a crap which brother will get which of the two women in marriage; they are only thinking about the same huge amount of money that will fill their bank account. As for the two women…" He explained more, before shrugging his shoulders and adding. "One rich contender to replace another rich one will not change much to their goal especially that they have already met the prospective husband they are supposed to be married to. If we both each keep the woman we had met of course."_

" _It's seems logical to me; but still, you can start a relationship in deceit, Niklaus, I thought your thousands of years on this earth, and too many errors, had shown you that already?" Elijah reminded him._

" _You point, brother?" Klaus responded, while frowning in anger._

" _My point is that I will make amend by telling the truth, to both to the agency and the parties involved." Elijah replied._

" _Do as you wish, brother." Klaus replied, while shrugging his shoulders in annoyance._

" _There's a major issue that we did not discussed yet, Niklaus. They are human, how will we deal with that problem?" Elijah demanded, seriously._

" _We'll turn them in good time." Niklaus shrugged more._

" _Assuming they want to turn?" Elijah responded, before adding. "Assuming they are ready to learn what we are?"_

" _In due time, they will." Klaus responded, before turning on his heels. It was an aspect of the question that he was not able to give a definite answer to his brother, just yet. "Just give me the same result: Carolina as my wife and Katerina as yours, and I'll be grateful." He added, while reaching the exit of the office, before slamming the door on its arch with the biggest smirk plastered on his lips, feeling satisfied of this unexpected end result. Elijah had finally fallen right into his trap._

_Elijah watched the door being slammed in front of his eyes, before grinning and shaking his head._

" _Aww… Niklaus…You are way too easy to manipulate." He said to himself, before reaching for his blackberry … And important phone call to Russia needed to be made._

* * *

" _Mr. Mikaelson, if we allow the Foundation to collect a substantial amount of money, I believe that with the added help of the Mikaelson Enterprise, we'll be able to save the children hospital." An older man, who was sitting in front of Elijah's sight in his London office, explained, while handing him a file._

_Elijah grabbed the file, before opening it and taking a quick look at the statistic shown on papers._

" _I'll take time to study your proposition more in depth, Mr. Greenger, and let you know in the following week my position on this project." Elijah replied, while rising on his feet, before handing his right hand to the middle age man._

" _Thank you, I was not expecting less consideration coming from you." Mr. Greenger replied, while smiling and shaking Elijah's hand. "Would you give me the honor of joining me and my wife for a dinner, let say the week-end of next week?"_

" _Thank you for your kind invitation, but unfortunately, I'll be retained that particular week-end." Elijah replied, while gently pushing the man toward the exit of his office._

" _Game of poker perhaps? I'll still need to take my revenge on you from the last one I was playing at your side." The man smirked._

" _No, not this time…It's actually my wedding day." Elijah replied, while nodding his head, in shyness._

" _Well, that is certainly a nice surprise, congratulations!" Mister Greenger replied, while shaking Elijah's hand with the most fervor. "I wish you all the happiness in the world and I hope to meet your wife in a very near future."_

" _Thank you." Elijah replied, while opening his office door. "Melinda, would you accompany Mister Greenger?"_

" _I'll do that with great pleasure, Mister Mikaeslon." The receptionist replied, while rising from her sitting position, before showing Mister Greenger out._

_Elijah closed his office door, while closing his eyes and rolling his head into a 360 degrees rotation to relax all his neck muscles before taking a few additional walking steps to reach the panoramic window, drowning his sight in the rain that had been falling on London all day._

_The sound of his cell phone startled him; he reached for the electronic device in his jacket's pocket, before raising it near his right ear._

" _Elijah Mikaelson" He responded, toneless._

" _Katerina Petrova" She presented herself, before adding. "How could you even think that I would accept this kind of behaviour? I have pride you know? You were not even the man that I was supposed to marry? Either was the one that my sister met?" He heard her Russian accent voice yelled at him. "Me and my sister, we don't have much, but we have our self-esteem, Mister_ _ **"Elijah"**_ _Mikaelson." She added, while making emphasis on his first name._

" _Katerina…" He murmured, in surprise, while savoring each syllable of her first name; it had been way too long since their first encounter. "How did you get this number?" He asked, while smiling heavenly at the sound of her voice. "I've specifically asked the agency for this number to stay private."_

" _That is not important; I have my ways of persuasion. What is important is that you and your brother made fun of me and my sister." She yelled, even more, at him._

" _It was an unfortunate misunderstanding, everything is now in order. Do you have something against marrying me instead of my brother, Katerina? Is that the real problem?" He mocked her._

" _Я предпочел бы гореть в аду!" She exclaimed in Russian, with an angry tone of voice, while telling him in her natal language that she would prefer to burn in hell._

" _Тогда мы будем гореть вместе как муж и жена!" – "Then we'll burn together as husband and wife" Elijah replied to her, in a perfect Russian, while grabbing his winter coat in his office closet, before directing his walking steps toward the exit._

" _You know Russian?" She asked, completely dumfounded._

" _There are a lot of things that I know, Katerina, and that you are not aware of…Yet." He replied, before holding his walking pace in front of his receptionist desk. "I'm leaving for the day, hold all my calls, and no transfer on my cellphone either. I'm with an important client at the moment."_

" _I'll do as you wish, Mister Mikealson." The receptionist answered him, with her spotless smile, while nodding her head in respect._

" _Who's that?" Katerina asked, while suddenly biting her bottom lip, and regretting her query…what had possessed her to ask him that question or to even care?_

" _Are you jealous, Katerina?" He asked, with a mocking tone of voice, while entering the elevator. Only the silence answered him. "It's my receptionist, Melinda; you'll meet her in good time." He informed her more. "How have you been?"_

" _Like you care?" She replied to him, her arms crossed in front of her chest._

" _I do care. You'll be my wife soon." Elijah replied, before reaching the ground floor and getting out of the elevator._

" _I don't like a man who tricks a woman; it's a bad omen to deceive another human being." She replied, slyly._

" _You're entirely right; we are agreeing entirely on the subject. I can only hope that with time, you and your sister Carolina will find within yourselves to forgive us." He replied to her, with honesty, while lowering his upper body and head to enter inside the back seats of the limousine. "Thank you, George." He thanked his chauffeur._

" _You're welcome, Mister Mikaelson." George replied, while nodding his head, and closing the door after his boss._

" _Who's that?" She asked, once again, more curious than ever._

" _My personal chauffeur, you'll know him very soon." Elijah replied, amused by her curiosity, while pushing a button that raised the black screen between his chauffeur and his own privacy in the back of the limousine, before pulling the knot of his tie._

" _Maybe not…." She responded, defensive._

" _Did you and your sister receive the plane tickets?" Elijah asked, while smirking at her way of playing this delightful cat and mouse game with him._

" _Maybe I'll…Maybe, We'll decide to stay in Russia?" She replied, confrontational, while raising her chin. "And we'll cancel all agreements."_

" _I highly doubt it, Katerina." He replied, while smiling._

" _Don't doubt it, you could be surprised." She stipulated._

" _I highly doubt it because you're doing this marriage agreement for your sister, and not for yourself." Elijah announced, subtly._

_Katerina swallowed her saliva, before taking a few deep breaths._

" _Why do you say that?" She asked Elijah._

" _Because, Katerina …. I know the burden of responsibilities being an older sibling can bring on your shoulders." Elijah replied to her. "You want a better life for your sister, more than you want it for yourself."_

" _I'll do anything for her." She replied, while feeling tears emerge in her eyes._

" _If my brother falls in love with your sister, in the future, he'll love her for eternity." Elijah replied, with sincerity. "It's just how Niklaus is…But, he's not known to fall in love easily."_

" _How do you know that for a fact?" Katerina asked. "And Carolina, will she fall for your brother?"_

" _I don't, Katerina, you are right." Elijah replied, with a bit of laughter in his voice. "But, the fact that he agreed to take her as his wife is actually proving me that he felt something strong for her since they have met."_

" _Why did you not choose her?" She asked more. "Maybe she'll be more of your taste?"_

" _I have chosen you, Katerina." Elijah replied. "Isn't it enough?"_

" _It makes no difference to me." Katerina replied, semi truthful._

" _Why is that?" Elijah demanded, while drowning his sight in the traffic surrounding the car._

" _You or your brother, it makes no difference to me, the result is the same." She shrugged._

" _Not a romantic bone in your body, as I can see?" Elijah mocked, gently._

" _Is it a problem?" She asked._

" _Actually, no, it's not." Elijah replied, before adding. "It's actually a blessing. I don't believe in romance."_

" _Do you believe in love?" She asked, while raising one of her eyebrows._

" _No, I don't, and you?" Elijah asked himself._

" _I only believe in a contract between two consenting adults, Mister Mikaelson, isn't it the point of all of this." She responded, suddenly breathless._

" _I believe it is, Katerina." Elijah replied, while lowering his head on the support head of his seat. "You'll ask the agency to put the cost of this call on my bill." Elijah ordered._

" _I can pay for this call!" Katerina replied, proudly. "I don't want or need alms from your part."_

" _You'll do as I say." Elijah repeated, in a higher tone of voice. "My wife will never have to ask for alms. We'll see each other on Friday; have a nice and safe trip, Katerina."_

" _As you wish…" She replied, contradicted by his superior tone of voice. She needed to play his game, only for her sister sake._

" _As you wish … to whom? Your future husband name or am I mistaken?" He pushed her a little more._

" _Elijah…" She mumbled, in a whisper, into the phone. All of this was for Carolina; she needed to remember this more than anything._

" _That is much better." He added, before closing the conversation, the biggest smile plastered on his face._

* * *

" _It's time already?" Ingrid asked both sisters, her head under the threshold, while rubbing her hands nervously and seeing Katerina locked their apartment door for the last time._

" _Yes, we need to be in the airport in one hour." Carolina replied, while nodding her head, before lowering her suitcase and backpack on the corridor floor._

" _Come here my child." She said, while opening her arms to the young woman who rushed into her neighbour embrace. "You'll take care of yourself, you hear me?" She added, tears filling her eyes. "And don't let any man told you who you are supposed to be in life."_

" _I won't, Ingrid." Carolina replied, while shaking her head, with tears falling fluently on her cheeks._

" _Take this." Ingrid said, before putting a medallion in Carolina's hands. "It is a family heirloom; it will protect you, my sweet Carolina."_

" _I can't take this from you, it's too precious." Carolina responded, while shaking her head._

" _I want you to take it, as a gift." The elderly woman added, while closing her hands on Carolina's._

" _Thank you, I'll cherish it." Caroline responded, while passing the golden chain around her neck._

" _Go downstairs … Wait for the taxi." Katerina ordered her sister._

" _Ok" She responded, while nodding her head, and hugging Ingrid one last time. "I'll write to you, I promise." She added, while sweeping her tears away from her face, before grabbing her bags, and walking toward the staircase._

" _I hope you know what you're doing, Katerina?" Ingrid asked the older sister, while shaking her head in disapproval._

" _We are leaving this dumb, aren't we?" Katerina replied, before sliding the set of keys in Ingrid's hands. "Give this to the jerk of landlord that I had to endure for so many years."_

" _I will" Ingried replied, before pulling Katerina in a hug. "Take care of your sister, and mostly, don't forget to take care of yourself." She added._

" _You'll be in my prayers, Ingrid." Katerina murmured, while holding the woman in her arms. "Here, take this." She added, while sliding an envelope in the elderly woman's hands._

" _What is this?" Ingrid asked, dumfounded._

" _It's money, I won't need it anymore, but it will help you in the future." Katerina explained, with teary eyes, before sweet kissing Ingrid forehead, grabbing her suitcases, and running into the staircase._

" _May God, be with you both, my sweet girls." Ingrid yelled into the corridor._

* * *

" _George, will take care of your suitcases, Ladies, I hope you had a pleasant and safe trip? If you could follow me now, I'll take you to your private quarters?" Maria, the Mikaelson' governess addressed herself to both Petrova's sisters, while directing them toward a majestic staircase, leading them shortly after, toward the upstairs bedroom corridor of this grandiose manor, under their speechless expression plastered on both of their faces._

_Maria finally hold her walking pace in front of a double French doors, before pushing it open to a suit that was at first sight decorated for a woman taste._

" _I hope you'll be comfortable in this present suit, if ever this is not the case, please inform me and I'll find you better accommodation." Maria nodded her head, in front of Carolina. "I presume you must be very exhausted. There are fresh towels in the bathroom, and I'll bring you a light lunch in a short moment."_

" _Thank you" Carolina only managed to mumble to the middle age woman._

" _I will show you your quarter now." Maria added to Katerina, with a hand gesture toward the other side of the corridor._

" _We'll see each other later." Katerina murmured to her sister, to give her strength._

" _Yes" Carolina simply responded, with a timid smile, before closing both doors._

_Katerina followed the governess, while being lead into her own suit._

" _As for your younger sister, Madam … Everything is also, and I hope, to your satisfaction?" She politely addressed her._

" _I'm not… I mean we are not selling ourselves even if it looks that way." Katerina said to Maria, while blushing and lowering her head. "I don't know what you have heard about us?"_

" _I'm paid by my employers to work as a governess, not as a gossip journalist, Madam." Maria responded, while tiling her head, in respect._

" _Thank you." Katerina answered her, while smiling timidly._

" _You're welcome Madam." Maria replied, before nodding her head and closing both doors behind her, leaving Katerina standing in the middle of the suit, lost in her thoughts._

* * *

_Carolina wandered around the rooms of the upstairs corridors; she had taken a shower, eaten a sandwich and soup brought by Maria, and changed her clothes. Her wardrobe was basic, restraint, clean and respectable, but certainly not in accordance with the luxury of this Manor, that she should, as of now, be calling her "home"._

_She was wearing a pair of skinny jeans with a large and long, white sweater, her long, humid, blond hair falling freely on her shoulders, in soft curls, while taking walking steps, bare feet, on the marble floor._

_A door ajar caught her attention; she pushed it opened, before entering another suit, decorated with more masculine taste. If Katerina would have known that her younger sister was wandering around, she would have warned her to stay put in her own quarters, but Carolina was not known as one to listen to orders so easily, and plus, if the man who have had the audacity to change his own identity with the one of his brother, wanted to wed her, he was entitled to know her real free spirited personality._

_She pushed the panel on its arch, before taking a few walking steps on the tick, luxurious, greyish carpet on her feet. The suite was decorated in the nuances of white, grey, and black, in a very 1920' style. One part office, one part living room, and last but not least, the bedroom reachable by an arcade covered with black velvet curtains on each side, leading to a gigantic bed, covered with a silver satin bedspread and several black cushions as decorative accent. Carolina blushed before turning on herself, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat. She could feel in her guts that this suit and bed was "his"._

_She turned on her heels, before entering the adjacent office, passing the tip of her fingers over the glass desktop of the mahogany desk. She turned a world map globe on its axe, before sighing in boredom and venturing herself even more while taking in her hands, from the top of a fire mantle, a frame that was showing a sketch drawing of Paris._

" _See anything that you like, Love?" She heard an English voice asked her._

_She startled, before turning on herself to face the intruder, who was leaning his upper body on the left side of the office arch door. Carolina placed a hand over her chest, while unexpectedly dropping the frame on the wooden floor, in a loud noise of broken glass._

" _Be careful, you're bare feet, you might cut yourself." Klaus warned her, suddenly worried, while advancing toward her position._

_Carolina took a walking step backward, while prior assuring herself of not stepping over the broken glass._

" _Not one to listen to warning, aren't you?" Klaus smirked, while raising one of his eyebrows, before reaching her position and drowning his sight in hers._

" _I don't listen easily to order." She replied, while raising her chin at him, unexpressive of the raising heart beats in her chest while standing face to face with her presume future husband. "….Sir." She added, slyly._

" _It was barely one, sweetheart. I was just concerned about your safety." Klaus informed, amused, while crossing his arms over his chest, his own sight narrowed on her. "…Sir?" He required an explanation, surprised._

" _Or should I say Mister the "impostor"?" She questioned, madly._

" _You're mad because of the previous switch identities, aren't you?" Klaus asked, while smirking. "It was an unfortunate misunderstanding. I present to you my deepest apologies." He said, before adding. "You would be bored in two seconds in the presence of my brother Elijah, I'm a better fit to the strong and stubborn woman that you are."_

" _I will never know if your brother would have been better, because you took my free will away from me. Either way, you or your brother, it makes no difference to me." She replied, in all honesty._

_He was not what you could call a typical handsome man; his style was obviously rougher on the edges, she noticed, while slowly sliding her sight on his body. He was tall, thin and built at the same time, his muscular chest and arms were the evident proofs of a daily workout. His clothes consisted of grey, long sleeves, Henley t-shirt, a fitted pair of dark jeans, black biker's boots, several leather necklaces and wristbands were adding the thought exterior touches to his look. But the part that was attracting Carolina to him, against her own will, was mostly this aura of strength and power that you could instantly sense from that man._

" _Now that you've just studied my physical attractiveness, do you find me handsome? Am I a good contender to become your husband? Am I at your taste, Carolina?" Klaus asked, mockingly, while stepping over the broken glasses, nearer to her own position, before taking a strand of her blond curls around one of his fingers._

" _You're a common looking man, like thousands of others." She shrugged her shoulders, lying through her teeth, while blushing, lowering her sight, and crossing her arms in front of her chest, in a protection mechanism. It was one thing to see him on a laptop screen, but a complete different experience to have him stand in front of her shaking body. "I prefer an ordinary looking man, with dignity in him, than a lying handsome one." She replied, tit for tat._

_Klaus leaned his head backward before bursting into loud laughter._

" _What a breath of fresh air you'll be in my life, Love. Fool of honesty, fire, and light." Klaus said to her, while sliding the strand of hair behind her right ear. "Your hair is like silk on my skin." He whispered, while leaning his mouth near her earlobe, his lips almost touching her skin._

_Carolina kept herself motionless, while keeping her stare forward._

" _If you let me, I could give you the world on a silver platter. Do you realize that?" He murmured more, while sliding the tip of his fingers on her delicate jaw line._

_Carolina turned her head slowly toward Klaus, before drowning her sight in his._

" _Is it your uncertainty of never being remotely appreciated, liked or even loved by a woman that makes you talk this way?" Caroline replied, slyly, before adding. "My feelings can't be bought; I thought you've already understood that about the woman you've chosen to married."_

_Klaus frowned, angrily, while biting the inside of his cheeks._

" _And yet you've sold yourself to a stranger?" He replied, pernicious._

" _You right, I can't deny that." Carolina replied, with teary eyes, while shrugging her shoulders._

" _I can be a very persuasive man, when I want to be. Just know that fact about me, Carolina." He replied, slyly, himself. "I simply demand respect from my wife. Love is a sentiment that has never been a priority of mine. It's actually not in my priority at all." He added, before turning on himself, and closing his fists in anger. "Who loves is weak, and your future husband is not weak." He added, before turning his sight back at her._

" _What about sex?" She asked, unafraid of his attack on her._

" _It's something that I can ensure you that we'll enjoy immensely, in the future." He replied, while smirking._

" _I don't feel any attraction toward you." She replied, defensive. "So, I highly doubt I could enjoy being intimate with you … But, I'll do what is asked of me."_

" _You'll have sex with me, like an unwanted task? You're such a beautiful liar." Klaus responded, mockingly, while taking a few walking steps to place himself behind Carolina's back, slowly sliding his hands on the length of her arms, his thumbs firmly placed on the inside of her left wrists. "Boom, Boom, Boom… The beats of your heart is dangerously rising, Love….Could I be the reason?" He whispered, his eyes closed, his chin placed in top of her head._

_Carolina closed her eyes for a split second, her heart suddenly missing a beat, under her sudden shortness of breaths. She needed to urgently pull herself away from his too close proximity. She took a few walking steps in front of her, under the sharp pain of a piece of glass entering her right sole._

" _Ouch!" She exclaimed, while raising her foot in the air._

" _What did I told you, Love?" She heard him, angrily, mumble between his teeth, before being raised in his arms a second later._

" _Put me down!" She ordered him, while not having any other choice but to encircle his neck of her arms to keep a good balance._

" _I don't have it in me to listen to orders either." Klaus responded, while blinking an eye at her, before carrying Carolina toward the black, modern, leather sofa in the living room adjacent the bedroom._

" _I'm able to walk!" She protested some more, proudly._

" _And I'm able to carry you." He responded, while slowly raising her right leg up to look at the wound. Luckily, and firstly, he had fed blood earlier, and secondly, the cut was superficial. "Don't move!" He ordered more, under her pouting face, before walking toward the bathroom, and coming back with a set of bandages in his hands._

_He took a sitting position by her side, before raising her foot on his lap, and slowly cleaning the cut, blood spreading on his hands, he turned his head for a quick second, while closing his eyes. The smell of Carolina's red elixir was already making his head spin. He rapidly wrapped the bandage around her foot._

" _There, you'll need to keep it dry for a couple of days." He added to Carolina, who was staring at him with wide open eyes, and both motionless and speechless at the same time. "See, your future husband is not so much the monster you think he is."_

" _Do you still need me?" She asked him, abruptly._

_Klaus lowered his head on the back of the sofa, before bursting, once more, into laughter._

" _I would keep you for eternity by my side if this is the question you're asking." He mocked her._

" _I'm tired." She announced._

" _Then, you're free to go rest in your suite, Carolina." He replied, while sliding both of her feet on the floor._

_She rose on her legs, limped toward the exit of Klaus' suit, before turning on herself one last time, and murmuring._

" _Thank you"_

_Klaus assured himself that she had passed the threshold before closing his eyes, and slowly bringing his finger covered with blood to his lips … Delightful … Like he knew it would be… He smirked, while tasting her aphrodisiac gore._

* * *

_Katherine stepped out of the luxurious bathroom, wrapped in a comfortable terry robe, while drying her long, brown, curly hair with a lush towel, embroidered with the letters_ _**"K.M."** _ _– Katerina Mikaelson… She shivered at the thought, while passing the tip of her fingers on the embroidery before suddenly being hit by a dizzy spell. She took an additional walking step, grabbing the upper edge of an arm chair. She hadn't eaten since more than twenty four hour, and it was now taking its hold on her._

" _Katerina" She hear an English masculine voice calling her name softly, before turning on herself and facing the man who suddenly took her breath away while standing under the threshold of the opened French doors._

_**Elijah** _ _… Her blurry mind had the time to realized while fixating her sight at him. He was standing straight as an "I", while wearing a superior quality two pieces, black suit, both of his hands in his trouser pockets, his tie unknot, with two of the first buttons of his man shirt opened on his chest. He was without a single doubt, the most handsome man that Katerina have ever had the chance to meet in all her life._

" _I…" She only had the time to mumbled, before feeling the heaviness of her eyelids, and an intense fog wrapping every of her thoughts._

" _Katerina" She heard once more, in a louder tone of voice, before falling into unconsciousness, with the last and only notion of her body being held by two strong pair of arms._


	4. Two fiancee for two originals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_Katerina sighed while turning her body, from left to right, on the comfortable mattress, with her head still heavy on the soft pillow, from too many hours of sleep. She let her body take time to enjoy a few extra minutes of peacefulness, while lying under the silk bed sheet and comforter. She smiled before thinking in the fogginess of her mind that she had never slept so long and so well in her entire life._

_Her eyelids slowly opened under a blurry vision. She blinked several times before finally seeing a male figure sitting on the bench in front of the bay window._

" _Where am I?" She mumbled in a low whisper, while suddenly strengthening her upper body in a sitting position, taken into a moment of panic, both of her hands holding her head under a light slenderness on her temples._

" _London, England" She heard him respond to her, while seeing the man rise on his feet and approaching her own position on the bed._

_All of her memories rushed back to her like a boomerang….Elijah Mikaelson, no, more:_ _**Duke Elijah Mikaelson** _ _, the man that she was supposed to marry, was now standing beside the bed,_ _**her** _ _bed, in_ _**her** _ _new suit, in_ _**her** _ _new luxurious English Manor._

" _What happened?" She asked some more in her Russian natal language._

" _You fainted, Katerina." Elijah responded, in English, while handing her a porcelain cup._

" _What is it?" She asked, fearful._

" _Nothing with drugs in it, I can assure you, if this is what you are worrying about." He added, with a smirk curving the right side of his lips. "It's perfectly safe, it's chamomile."_

_She raised the sheet on her chest, before grabbing the cup with both hands, nodding her head in a thankful manner, her lips slowly touching the warm and suiting liquid, between a few glances toward Elijah._

" _You're taller than I firstly thought?" She said, in her bluntly manner._

" _Is that a problem?" Elijah smirked through his answer to her._

" _It's just an ascertainment." She shrugged, while sipping her chamomile._

" _Unfortunately, my dear, I can't shrink." He replied, highly amused, while crossing his arms over his chest._

" _You won't have too, I'll buy higher heels." She replied, with the most logical thought that came out of her mind._

_Elijah stood speechless in front of Katerina, while shaking his head._

" _I want to be equal to you." She explained more, while raising her sight at him. "In my head I'll be able to reach it that way, at least by being the same height that you are."_

" _And you think that highefr heels will make you reach that goal of being my equal?" Elijah asked, while shaking his head more dumfounded than ever, before raising his right hand over his mouth to hide his sudden amusement … She was too adorable._

" _No, I am not stupid, and neither a feminist." Katerina added, firmly. "This marriage is already diminishing my rights, because of this contract between us. I just need to find a way to stand by your side while raising my head high."_

" _And you'll reach this goal with high heels?" Elijah repeated, while raising one of his eyebrows._

" _For the time being, yes, I will." She replied, shamelessly._

" _Well…We'll surely discuss that… unexpected subject, later." He ended it. "You gave us quite a scare, Katerina." Elijah added in a subtle change of conversation, while nodding his head._

" _You gave "us"? You mean?" She asked, surprised._

" _You sister, Maria …" He listed, before adding, while drowning his sight in her. "…Me."_

" _I'm sorry." She replied, before blushing and slowly turning her torso to drop the empty cup on the right side bed table. "Who…" She started asking, while lowering her hands on her nightgown._

" _Maria" He guessed the question, before giving her the answer. "She undressed you of your previous clothes, and dressed you with the nightgown that you're wearing now."_

" _It's not mine." She wondered, while touching the silkiness and lustfulness of the fabric._

" _No, it's not." Elijah replied, before adding. "I took the liberty of buying a few clothes before your arrival."_

" _How…" She started again._

" _Did I know your measurements?" He smiled. "I had all the information needed in the agency file." He informed._

" _Of course you did." She replied, while rolling her eyes._

_Katerina glanced at him for a few seconds, while grabbing the matching silk gown that was lying at the foot of the bed, before dressing herself with the sumptuous fabric._

" _I'm not an orphan without clothes, you know, I have everything I need in my suitcase." She replied, slyly, to him, while pushing the comforter and sheet away from her body_

" _Nothing was intended as disrespect, Katerina." Elijah replied, while frowning. "Your suitcase and backpack were still locked and placed near the walk-in. I gave an order to Maria, asking her to wait for your approval before opening them and placing your personal belongings in the closet. If I hurt your feelings, I'm deeply sorry."_

" _Oh….No…I…" She mumbled the sound, while blushing and shrugging her shoulders. "Thank you." She finally added, while rising on her two legs, before suddenly losing her balance._

" _Be careful" He warned, while approaching her, before sliding both of his hands around her waist, to help her keep a good balance. "You've already fainted once; let's try to not repeat this event. Just breathe slowly." He added to Katerina, his chin placed above her head, the warm of his breath caressing her hair._

" _I fainted?" She demanded, while slowly feeling the blood circulation coming back into her legs and cheeks, the last two mostly caused by his too closed proximity. His hands were burning the skin of her waist through the silk fabric. She stepped away from Elijah, before closing very tightly, the silk belt of her dressing gown._

" _Yes, I took the decision of calling the doctor." Elijah started explaining._

" _A doctor came?" She said in shock. "Why? It was unnecessary."_

" _I had no way of knowing if your health condition was serious or not. I took the only logical next step, Katerina." He explained, calmly, to her._

" _It wasn't serious, I fainted simply because… because I was stupid. I hadn't eaten for almost two days." She shrugged, while placing herself in front of the bay window. "I was worried about my sister faith in your brother's hands."_

" _So that would be the reason? Nevertheless, you fainted and then you came back to awareness for a few seconds, before drifting into unconsciousness again." Elijah explained some more, while suddenly smiling and sliding his fiery side on her feminine curves._

_She was placed in front of the opened curtains window, and with the help of a few rays of sunshine entering the suite, Elijah was able to see through the silk fabric._

" _I explained to the doctor that the simple sight of me may have been the reason that you've fainted." He informed her._

" _What?" She exclaimed in shock, while turning on herself in shock, before pointing an accusatory finger at him. "This is…This is simply not true. I would never faint at the sight of a man … You're not God!"_

" _Well, I'm certainly not God." He mocked, before adding. "But, you are certainly the first woman that literally fainted at my sight … Would you say that it was physical attraction at first sight?" He asked more._

_Katerina blushed, the hundred shades of red, before lowering her sight away from his._

" _It was not the reason." She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

_Elijah smirked, before reaching her standing position, raising her chin with the help of his right hand, while forcing her to drown her sight in his._

" _You're joking about this, aren't you?" She said, while finally noticing his twisted smile on the left corner of his lips._

" _Katerina, I don't have the pretention to think that a woman could actually faint at my sight only, give me a little bit more credit than that, would you?" He replied, while slowly caressing the skin of her left cheek with the tip of his thumb, leaving a trail of delightful shivers in her spine. "But the thought of it, has certainly bailed my ego." He added, while smirking, and turning on himself, before sliding both of his hands in his pants' pockets._

" _Not like you would need an extra boost in your oversized ego." She mumbled, to herself, in a low whisper, while rolling her eyes._

" _What did you just say?" He asked, while turning his sight at her._

" _Nothing…" She replied, while blushing._

" _You like a good joust, don't you?" Elijah asked more, amused, while crossing his arms over his chest._

" _I won't silence myself if this is what you're asking." She finally replied, while shrugging her shoulders._

" _Please don't, stay as you are, beautiful Katerina … You are certainly enlightening my days, which I can assure you, not a lot of people are able to even come close to do." He said, before adding. "You fainted because of exhaustion and bad nutrition. I want a woman at my side that will be in good health."_

" _I'm sorry … It won't happen again." She replied, while shaking her head. "I know you want the merchandise to be in good condition." She added._

" _Who are you calling the merchandise?" Elijah asked, in shock, while narrowing his sight on her. "I don't want to hear that again in your mouth, am I enough clear to you, Katerina?"_

" _Crystal" She replied, while crossing her arms in front of her chest, in a pouting gesture, before raising her chin at him. "Acting as a true boss much?"_

" _Most of the time, yes, very much, do you have something against it?" He asked her, while putting both of his closed fists on each side of his waist._

" _I'll deal with it." She replied, while shrugging her shoulders. "And I'll take care of myself."_

" _Good." He simply replied, before adding. "I'll let you eat and get dress, and then if you could meet me in my study, downstairs, I would like to review the conditions of our contract at your earliest convenience."_

" _What do you mean review the conditions? I thought everything was clear between the parties and the agency?" She asked, suddenly worried._

_Elijah took slow, calculated, walking steps to reach Katerina's standing position. He slowly slide a hand around her waist, while pulling her trembling body in a close proximity of his chest, before lowering his head near hers._

" _There is always the condition of the new pairs of high heels shoes." He gently mocked, while slowly kissing Katerina's left cheek, leaving a trail of fire on her skin._

_A discreet knock on the suit door, made them turn their heads simultaneously toward the entrance, before stepping back from their embrace._

" _Madam, Mister Mikaelson." Maria saluted verbally while nodding her head, before closing the suit door behind her, a silver tray of foods in her hands._

" _Maria brought you a light lunch; I'll see you later, Katerina." Elijah informed her, before directing his walking pace toward the door. "Thank you Maria, It smells divine." He added, while addressing a polite smile to the governess, before leaving the suite._

_Maria walked toward the table, before lowering the tray on its wood._

" _I hope this light lunch will be at your satisfaction, Madam, if you need anything else, you can reach me in the kitchen by simply dialling "0" on your wireless phone, placed on the side table near your bed." She informed Katerina._

" _Thank you." Katerina simply responded, while approaching the table._

" _I'm glad you're feeling much better, Madam, Mister Mikaelson was really worried about you." Maria informed, with a trace of a smile on her lips, before turning on her heels and leaving the suit._

_Katerina stood motionless for a few seconds, with the only thought of Maria's last sentence playing continuously in her head ….._ _**Mister Mikaelson was really worried about you.** _

* * *

_Klaus pushed the glass door open, while getting out of the majestic shower, before grabbing a towel on a silver hook and vigorously drying his hair and body. He dropped it on the marble floor, stood in front of the full length, blurry, mirror, before passing his hands into his curly blond hair, while suddenly hearing the loud sound of the upfront door of his suite being slammed on its arch._

_He grabbed his bleached pair of jeans that were also hanging on another hook, before rapidly sliding the fabric in front of his pelvic naked area, in the nick of a time of the bathroom door being widely opened._

_Carolina stormed inside the steamy, luxurious bathroom, with her own steam coming out of her ears, in her two pieces, sweat pants and matching t-shirt, with her hair styled in a ponytail, before standing in front of a semi-naked Klaus, with both of her closed fists on each side of her waist. Included with her magisterial entrance, the added effect of her angry stare, that could kill him on the spot if only he had not been eternal._

" _Oh …" She mumbled, before blushing, and while finally realizing that her "future husband" was standing naked in front of her eyes, with only his folded pair of jeans placed in front of his private parts. "I'm sorry." She apologized, in shock, while turning her back at him, and placing her right hand over her eyes._

" _I'm pretty sure that turning your back at me was enough to avoid seeing my naked body." Klaus mocked her, while sliding his left leg into his pair of jeans, soon followed by his right._

" _It's not like I haven't seen a naked man before." She lied through her teeth._

" _Also sure you had quite a high percentage of chances to see one, while storming into a private bathroom." He mocked more._

" _I did not think." She murmured. "I just react."_

" _But, I can assure you, Love, this all inclusive package, that I am offering, you've certainly never saw it before!" He giggled through his sentence._

" _Thinking too much of yourself, again?" She replied, slyly._

" _Just stipulating the honest truth … I also understand that the blushing fiancée wants to keep the main event for our honeymoon night, and I fully respect that. But, at the stage of intimacy that we are obviously reaching, and the amount of time that you are passing in my suite, since your arrival, with the added fact that I've seen you half naked as you've seen me, I think it would be safe to assume that we've reached the next level in our relationship, and it would also make more sense to me if you would move your private stuff in my walk-in, like ….Today." He explained, humorously, while smirking, and sliding the zipper up. "There, Love, I'm all decent, now."_

_She turned on herself, while closing both eyes, and slowly reopening one, while taking a quick glance at Klaus._

" _Hello there." He mocked even more, while moving his fingers in front of her opened eye, as a greeting gesture._

_She sighed in fury, before reopening the second one, while avoiding looking at Klaus's naked muscular chest, streaming with steam._

" _What is this?" She asked, furiously, with her melodious accent, while waving in front of his sight, a written note on a piece of paper._

" _Good morning to you too, future wife, did you sleep well, Love?" He asked, while taking a walking step toward her standing position, before lowering his sight on her bare feet. "Bare feet again?" He asked more, while raising one of his eyebrows._

" _Do you have something about my bare skin?" She asked him, angrily, while crossing her arms over her chest. "Is it part of the contract that I should always wear slippers on my feet?"_

" _Oh Love, believe me when I say that I can't wait to see your skin completely bare in front of my sight." He replied winking and smirking, while lowering his upper body near hers, his eyes fixated on her lips._

" _Most of the time, I really want to punch your face." She exclaimed, bluntly, before adding. "I thought it would be honest of me to tell you this truth."_

" _Well, thank you for your honesty sweetheart truthfulness will certainly be a big part of our marriage success…. Remind me this at our 50_ _th_ _Anniversary's party, would you?" He mocked more, before lowering his head near hers, while whispering near her ear. "See, it is a big part of my charm and you're obviously falling for it."_

" _I seriously doubt it." She responded, while promptly stepping away from his too close proximity, her bare right foot suddenly slipping on the wet marble floor, before losing all of her legs' balance._

_A small cry escaped Carolina's mouth, while trying to regain her equilibrium. Klaus thwarted the upcoming fall, while rapidly grabbing her waist and bringing her shaking body in the embrace of his strong arms._

" _I've told you that bare feet could be dangerous." He murmured, near her right ear, while closing his eyes and listening to the sound of her tormented heart beats, pumping her delightful red elixir into her veins._

" _You're standing bare feet?" She replied, while raising one of her eyebrows._

" _It's kind of logical after stepping out of the shower." He replied, sarcastically. "Just before a blond tornado stormed inside of my private quarters, that is."_

" _It's the foot bandage that made me slip." Carolina managed to whisper, her opened palms placed on his naked muscular chest, while feeling a range of electric shocks hitting her entire body all at once, under her jerky breaths. "I'm fine now, you can let go of me." She managed to mumble to her soon to be husband._

" _Your heart is beating dangerously fast at the moment. How can you be fine?" Klaus smirked. "Am I still the cause of this effect?"_

" _What is it with you and heart beats anyway?" She asked, while slowly raising her sight in his._

" _Well…." Klaus smirked, his eyes drown into hers. "Let just say it's a special skill that I have, among many others." He added, while winking and gently pushing her out of his reach. She was too much of a temptation at this present moment for him to handle … And the open shower was creating a series of erotic images in his mind, and, to be honest, any moment since he had met Carolina had been dangerous for him. "So, what can I do for you, Love?" He asked, while reaching the vanity sink, grabbing a badger in his hand, passing the shaving instrument under the stream of water, lathering it, before brushing in a circular motion the foam on his face._

_Carolina swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, while watching for the first time in her life, the morning intimate moments of a man._

" _Don't worry, Love." Klaus smirked. "I've already put your toothbrush beside mine in the toothbrushes holder, and, not to offend your sensibility, I choose a pink one." He added, in humorous tone of voice._

" _What is it with this note you left in my suite?" She asked, slyly, while bending her upper body to pick up the piece of paper that had fallen on the marble floor._

" _You have something against a small note left in your suite?" He asked, while taking in his right hand an antique shaving blade, before slowly sliding its cutting side on his manly face._

" _It says…" She started reading. "Carolina, I'll wait for you downstairs; we'll go pick up your dress for the wedding that will be held next week." She exclaimed, in fury._

" _Ohhhhh…." He let out the exclamation sound. "I'll let you pick up the dress that you want, don't worry about that fact, and if you are this traditional kind of girl who's thinking that it would be a bad omen for me to see you in it, I'll swear that I won't even look at it until the big event. I'm actually more impatient to see you get out of it." He giggled._

" _No, I'm not talking about that." She busted, while stomping her left foot on the floor. "Why are you making fun of me this way, you know perfectly well what I am talking about."_

_Klaus lowered the blade on the vanity counter, before sighing and turning his sight in Carolina's._

" _If we don't get married in the next following ten days, you and your sisters you'll be expatriated back in Russia." Klaus calmly explained to her._

" _But it was never written on the contract?" Carolina exclaimed. 'It was said that both parties would have the time to get to know each other, before joining into a legal marriage." She explained more. "How can I even know you in ten days?"_

" _And yet, they openly lied to you." Klaus responded, with a sarcastic laughter, before taking the blade back into his hand. "It's a lying bitch of a world out there, Love, the sooner you will realize that fact, the sooner you'll be able to deal with it all."_

_Carolina closed her eyes, while feeling tears filling them._

" _Is it so bad?" Klaus whispered, while holding his movements._

" _What?" She murmured, suddenly taken by sadness._

" _Marrying me?" He asked, while turning his head toward hers._

" _It's what I've signed the papers for… I can't back down now." She replied, while sweeping her tears with the back of her right hand._

_Klaus swallowed a lump in his throat while thinking that it was certainly the first woman in his past thousands of years that had acting recalcitrant over the possibility of getting intimate with him, and yet, her physical reaction was showing the opposite: Her raising heart beats when she was standing near him… Her blushing cheeks…. Her shyness when she was discreetly avoiding his sight._

_She took a few walking steps to reach Klaus's standing position in front of the vanity, before taking from his hands the antique blade._

" _My father used to have one exactly like that… It's kind of old fashion … Is it how you say it in English?" She asked him, while smiling._

_Klaus returned her smile, before sliding the foamed brush on his left cheek._

" _I'm kind of very old and very fashion at the same time." He blinked an eye at her, as a response._

" _My father had it from his own father. It was an antique, from the 1920' collection." She explained more to him._

" _I bought mine at the same time." He let out the information, before turning his head to the left to avoid her sight, biting the inside of his cheeks, and frowning at the same time, hoping she hadn't caught that part… Damn him! For two seconds he had lowered his guards._

" _You bought this blade in 1920'?" She asked him, dumfounded, with her mouth widely opened._

" _Of course not, I simply meant from that period of time. I actually bought it in a London antique shop." Klaus managed to explain._

" _But, you're doing it completely in a wrong way." She said, while blushing and shaking her head._

" _You're an expert at shaving men, Love?" Klaus mocked her, in a gentle way._

" _I used to do it for my father." She explained, before slowly placing herself in front of his naked chest, her back leaning on the vanity counter. "It's all in the angle of your wrist." She explained more, while raising the blade near his cheek, slowly bringing the sharp blade near his skin._

" _Should I get worried? There is a sharp blade in the hands of my loving fiancee?" He mocked, while raising one of his eyebrows._

" _Don't give me ideas." She responded to him, with a hint of a smirk twisting her lips._

_She lowered the sharp blade on his skin, while cutting his facial hair with precision._

" _You smell good?" Klaus murmured, while sliding both of his hands on each side of her hips, before slowly bringing her into a nearer proximity._

" _With my father's technique you're sure of cutting yourself less often." She informed him more, while trying to avoid looking at him in the eyes, the beats of her heart starting to rise in her chest._

" _I like having you in my arms; you're a beautiful woman, Carolina." He murmured more, while encircling her waist, and bringing her into the comfort of his arms, before lowering his lips on her left cheek, slowly kissing its roundness. "Your skin is so soft." He told her, before asking. "Are you lips as soft?"_

" _Don't ..." She murmured, while closing her eyes._

_The shrill sound of the blade falling on the marble floor created enough of a diversion for her to regain her good sense. She pushed herself away from his arms, before rushing out of the bathroom, while closing the door behind her._

" _Don't even try to push your feelings away, denying them, or lying about them..." Klaus smirked through his sentence. "You're attracted to me, Carolina Petrova." He added, before starting to whistle._


	5. One step at a time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia** _

_**(…)** _

" _I like having you in my arms; you're a beautiful woman, Carolina." He murmured more, while encircling her waist, and bringing her into the comfort of his arms, before lowering his lips on her left cheek, slowly kissing its roundness. "Your skin is so soft." He told her, before asking. "Are you lips as soft?"_

" _Don't ..." She murmured, while closing her eyes._

_The shrill sound of the blade falling on the marble floor created enough of a diversion for her to regain her good sense. She pushed herself away from his arms, before rushing out of the bathroom, while closing the door behind her._

" _Don't even try to push your feelings away, denying them, or lying about them..." Klaus smirked through his sentence. "You're attracted to me, Carolina Petrova." He added, before starting to whistle._

* * *

_Maria, the Mikaelson's governess turned her head toward the entrance door of the kitchen, while feeling a presence nearby._

_Katerina stood, for a short moment, motionless underneath the threshold, while addressing a timid smile to the woman who was standing in front of the sink of this high-tech kitchen._

" _Madam, I did not hear you come, can I be of service?" She inquired, while wiping her wet hands on her apron, before straightening her upper body._

" _No… I… I mean, I just brought you back the lunch tray." Katerina explained, while sliding the said tray on the granite isle counter, before entering her hands in her jeans back pockets._

" _I see." Maria replied, before walking pass Katerina to reach the tray, while nodding her head in respect. "This was really unnecessary, Madam. I could have picked it up in your suite."_

" _It was no trouble for me to bring it back to you." Katerina replied nervously, while sliding a strand of her curly brown hair behind her right ear. "I'm … I'm used of taking care of my things, you know. I never had someone who did it for me, and neither had my sister."_

" _Well, as of now, it will be my pleasure and my work obligation to take care of both yours and your sister … "Things", Madam." Maria responded, with a glimpse of a smile touching her lips._

" _Ok. I get what you're saying." Katerina shrugged. "You don't want to be in trouble with the "king", himself." She added out loud, without realizing it at first. "Oh my God, that … I mean, that is not what I wanted to say." She blushed._

_Maria raised one of her eyebrows, while trying to retain her amusement._

" _Madam, the qualifiers nicknames that you will choose for your future husband is sincerely not of my business." Maria replied. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"_

" _I … I need to find "his" study room?" Katerina replied. "He's waiting for me."_

" _I see…Certainly, Madam." Maria replied, while reaching the kitchen swinging door, before pushing open its panel. "The corridor straight ahead of you, then, you just need to turn to your right. The study room is the one with the French doors. If you want I can bring you myself?"_

" _No…I mean thank you. I'll manage to find my way around." Katerina nodded her head before leaving the kitchen and taking her first walking steps into the corridor, toward Elijah's office._

* * *

_Her future husband was obviously not the type to let things drag. His office was immaculately tidy. His desktop clean, with all the files piled in alphabetical order, books on shelves were placed in rows without a trace of dust on them, their covers probably dust by Maria on his specific order… She could only suppose._

_Katerina sighed, before taking a sitting position on a comfortable leather armchair placed in front of the mahogany desk. She raised her legs, before crossing them and dropping her high heels boots on the desktop. It was more than obvious to her, that she had nothing in common with that soon to be husband of hers. She was a free spirited, stubborn woman, and she would usually hang her pantyhose for days in the tiny shower of what used to be her apartment…She had a feeling that her habits would certainly drive Elijah crazy, which made her smile._

" _What was the deal between the France office and the Germany one?" Elijah asked the interlocutor, his blackberry placed on his right ear, while entering his office, slamming one of the French door and taking a few more steps to reach Katerina's sitting position, before standing by her side, with his left hand place on his waist._

_She raised her sight to take a quick glimpse at her fiance while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat and nervously rubbing her hands together. That English man had this strange effect on Katerina, like no others before him, and she hated to not have the perfect control of her own emotions over him._

" _I want to be informed of the latest developments." Elijah cut the conversation short._

" _Work on a Saturday?" Katerina asked, while rising one of her eyebrows, and crossing her arms over her chest._

" _I'm a powerful man, with a lot of responsibilities on my shoulders." He responded. "Sooner you realize that fact, sooner you'll be able to act accordingly."_

_Elijah went up to her, before sliding his right hand under Katerina's knees, while gently pushing her legs away from his desktop, her feet now back on the floor._

" _It's not lady like to put your feet on the furniture." He warned her, like a child, before getting around the desk, and undressing himself of his blazer. "Furniture is generally meant for a purpose, and that purpose is not a footrest, Katerina."_

" _I'm not a lady, neither a little girl that you need to reprimand!" Katerina shrugged, while pouting. "You can withdraw that idea from your head."_

" _Then, I suppose you'll have to learn to become a lady while becoming my wife, my dear." He suggested, while smirking and pulling on the knot of his tie, before taking his sitting position at his desk._

" _And in the meantime you'll be worrying about dust accumulation over your precious furniture; is this thing a rich man prerogative?" She pushed a bit further, while narrowing her eyes on him._

" _Wealthy." He rectified the term, while joining his hands in front of his face, to retain his amusement._

" _What?" She asked, dumbfounded._

" _Wealthy man is a better term." He replied, smiling. "It has a classier vibe to it."_

" _You make my blood boil." Katerina sighed._

_Elijah leaned his head back before bursting into laughter._

" _Oh my dear Katerina, where were you all my life." He exclaimed, before asking. "It's so refreshing to meet a truthful person in the middle of this falling humanity for a change. Tell me, did you eat the food tray Maria brought to your suite?"_

" _Yes, I did, "dear"." She confirmed, sneakily._

" _Good. I want you to eat your three meals a day from now on." He replied, while opening the desk drawer, before presenting a credit card on the desktop, in front of her sight. "This card has been made at your name, and has an unlimited access to credit money."_

" _Yes, daddy" She replied, insolently, while frowning, before taking the card in her hands. "Why are you giving this to me? Aren't you afraid of me and Carolina leaving this mansion and enjoying the freedom of living on your money?" She teased him._

" _You'll be tracked by the immigration in no time, and the access to the money on the credit card would be frozen." He replied, smirking._

" _I was joking." She shrugged, while rolling her eyes._

" _I know you were." Elijah smiled. "You're a frank, honest and strong young woman, Katerina, it's qualities that I'd seen rapidly in you."_

" _What can I buy with this? Or what do you want me to buy with this?" She asked, more seriously, while showing the card to Elijah._

" _As my wife, you'll be asked to accompany me on diverse gathering of charity functions, balls, business dinners." Elijah started explaining. "I want you impeccably dressed in all time, in a classic, yet, elegant way, while standing by my side."_

" _Translation: You want me to look like a stuck up snub wife, while losing all of my personality and glorifying my husband in front of everybody?" She found the nerves within herself to respond to him, while raising her chin. "Did I get this part right?"_

" _The amount of time that I will gladly save with your brilliant deduction and way of understanding my implied requests is highly appreciated, Katerina." He smiled. "Therefore, and because you've accepted the conditions of becoming my wife, linked to this contract, I expect nothing less than your entire cooperation." He added, while raising a file in his hand._

" _Anything else you need as a front in this ashamed of arranged marriage?" She asked, bluntly._

" _Find yourself a wedding dress for the double ceremony, with my brother and your sister, which will take place at the town hall next Saturday." He nodded, while informing her._

" _It has to be so soon?" She bubbled, while blushing._

" _I'm touched; the brushing fiance is impatient to unite her life with mine." Elijah mocked. "Unfortunate technicalities if you want to stay in the country."_

" _OK" She nodded. "It's the deal between us after all. I'll do what you're asking." She shrugged. "But, I'll keep my free will."_

" _I would never ask you to change your personality, Katerina." He responded. "I enjoy your truthfulness way too much."_

" _I'll buy a lot of very expensive high heels shoes with this card, just be aware." She mocked, while turning the card between her fingers._

" _You, seducing me with your feminine weapons would certainly be an interesting option in this contract, which could easily arouse my attention and sexual pleasure." He replied, bluntly, himself. "But, it is not entirely necessary in our agreement."_

_Katerina lowered her head, while feeling the beasts of her heart rising dangerously in her chest. What did he meant by this exactly?_

" _The high heels shoes subject? What makes you think that you won't be my equal in this agreement? Or that you are not already?" Elijah asked, his sight drown into hers._

" _You have all the cards in your hands. I'm just obliging to your requests and orders." She answered him, while shrugging. "It's certainly not a fairy tale "Pretty Woman" kind of story."_

" _I prefer the term: demands." He replied, before slowly rising on his feet, while taking slow, calculated steps to reach her sitting position. "Richard Gere fan, I presume?" He mocked._

_Elijah leaned his lower back on the edge of the desk, while slowly raising his right hand to open the first buttons of shirt, before rolling his sleeves on his upper arms, under the attentive and appreciative glance of Katerina. He was doing it on purpose, testing his man power and seduction over her, but she would not give him the satisfaction to seem disturbed by his game._

" _Buying high heels shoes won't make you feel like my equal, Katerina, it will simply help you reach my height, nothing more." He explained, before handing her the file that was lying on his desktop._

" _What is this?" She asked._

" _It's your wedding gift." Elijah replied. "This is the private investigator's file, listing all there is to know about you and your sister."_

_Katerina lost all her cheeks colors, while grabbing the file from his hands._

" _Why are you giving me this?" She asked, with a broken voice. She knew perfectly what this file was containing._

" _Equality in any kind of relationship starts with trust and respect, Katerina." He replied to her. "I am opened to give you my trust and respect, in exchange of yours."_

_Katerina rose on her feet, tears filling her eyes, while dropping the file on the armchair, before turning on her heels. Elijah rapidly grabbed Katerina's right wrist, while retaining her by his side in the room._

" _Your past as an escort is irrelevant to me, Katerina." He murmured, before approaching her, his chest leaning on her back, his warm and soft breath on her hair, his right hand still placed on her wrist, with his left slowly sliding on her hip. "You did what you had to do to put more bread on your table, and assure a better life to your sister."_

" _Then, why did you investigate us?" She mumbled, while feeling a tear rolling on her cheek._

" _I'm a wealthy man with a huge empire in my hands; it was a simple security procedure." He calmly explained, before losing his grip on her, and taking one step back. "Katerina, turned around and look at me, Please?" He gently ordered her._

_She turned on herself, while facing him, her fists tightly closed, her sight kept on the floor. He slowly raised her chin, while drowning his eyes in hers._

" _It doesn't matter to me." He repeated. "Your actions speak for them-selves and are only showing your strength, Katerina, not your weakness."_

_She tried to retain an additional falling tear, but she couldn't. The stress of the previous days was now taking the best of her endurance._

" _Don't ever pay of your tears your due to mankind; they are not worth the trouble." He murmured, while slowly passing the tips of his fingers to brush the falling tear off her cheek._

_Katerina closed her eyes at the delightful touch of his hand on her skin, before trembling at the surprising additional touch of his manly lips brushing, softly, hers, in an almost unperceived kiss that latest a fraction of a second, while creating a range of uncontrollable shivers in her entire body._

_She reopened her eyes, a short moment later to find him standing in front of the bay window, his hands deep into his pants pockets. Did she dream that kiss?_

" _Why would you want "me" to be your wife in all the women you could have chosen in the world?" She asked._

" _I don't think less of you as a woman because of the choices you had to make in your life; stop lowering your self-esteem because of them. And, I chose "you" as my future wife, because I wanted to choose "you". There is nothing more to add on the subject, Katerina." He explained. "You've lost your trust in men, probably with good reasons, and I won't push the issue, but as of now, just know that you have earned my respect." He added, while turning his head to stare into her eyes._

" _So, I need to buy myself a new wardrobe, high heels shoes, and a wedding dress, anything else I can do for your services?" She asked, while blushing._

" _You won't let go of the shoes?" Elijah smirked._

" _It's still an agreement." She shrugged. "I want to know all the conditions."_

" _You are not obligated or entitled to sleep with me on our wedding night." He informed her, while turning his head and sight back at the window. "Or for as long as you want." He added. "But, you'll be obligated to sleep in my suite, by my side, after the wedding."_

" _I'll have to sleep in the same bed, but while being in a platonic relationship with you?" She asked, dumbfounded._

" _Yes. But I don't think anything could be platonic between us, Katerina." He responded, amused. "I don't want any gossips among the staff."_

" _You'll find your sexual satisfaction with a mistress, I suppose?" She asked, while frowning._

_Katerina suddenly thought that for the strangest of reasons, this idea was disturbing her peace of mind._

" _Let's just say that for the time being I am on sabbatical." He said honestly, with a smile twisting the corner of his lips._

" _So, I'm your perfect cover." She responded. "I'm the wife that will allow you to retreat yourself from the market for a short while."_

" _It's a blunt way of reading between the lines of this agreement." He shrugged, still smiling._

" _Do I need to live my own woman life like a nun as well?" She asked, while raising an eyebrow, and crossing her arms in front of her chest._

_Elijah took a few walking steps to come back to her standing position, before lowering his head, his sight, now, lost in her eyes._

" _You're not ready to be intimate with a man, me or any other man." He addressed the issue. "You have too much resentment contained inside of you."_

" _You're very sure of yourself?" She responded, while trembling of rage and raising her chin to him._

" _Always" He responded, smirking, before adding. "The day you'll need a sexual issuance, you'll ask me for it." He added, before turning on his heels, and taking his sitting position back at his desk. "It could actually be pleasurable between us, if you let it be."_

" _I'll ask you for it, really?" Katerina responded, while stomping her right foot on the floor. "It will rain cows the day it will happen." She murmured, angrily, between her teeth. The nerves of this man!_

" _What did you just say?" Elijah asked, smirking, while raising his sight from the file he was holding in his hands._

" _Nothing" She responded, while biting her bottom lip. "Anything else, I need to know about our marital agreement?"_

" _Not at the present moment, Katerina. I'll get back to you in the future." Elijah replied. "You just need to know that you can go as you please in the Manor. Ask Maria to show you the interior pool, the theater, the library… Also, if you need to go shopping or at the hair dresser or at the spa, just ask George, my personal driver, he'll drive you around London. They are at your service now." He explained._

" _You find something wrong with my hair?" She asked, while raising her hands on her lustrous brown curls._

" _I find nothing wrong with the all package that you are offering to my sight." He replied, sarcastically. "But, I know that a woman loves to pamper herself. You have the money at your disposition now, enjoy the idea and enjoy yourself." He explained more, before adding. "Anything else you need to know?"_

" _Not at the moment." She shook her head._

" _Good, then we are in agreement. Enjoy your day, Katerina. I'll see you at dinner time." Elijah added, before lowering his sight back on the file._

_Katerina turned on her heels, before storming out of his fiance's office, breathless and shaken like she had never been with any other man before him._

* * *

_Carolina strolled inside the Manor for a good hour, while discovering the wonders of this luxurious, huge house that she would call, as of now, her home. Along her walk of discovery she was stopped by the cry of hunger, before founding her way back to the kitchen. She pushed the swinging door to enter the huge room. She snooped around, finally finding her way around the enormous pantry, while trying to find something of her liking to eat. She needed sugar, and she needed it now. It was a certainty, that she would probably be reprehended by Maria, the governess, for her present actions. In no way she was allowed to lift her little finger to search for her own food._

_She had been trying since a good hour, and especially after the unfortunate morning encounter, to erase "him" out of her mind, but without achieving success. "Him" being Klaus, her present fiancé, slash, future husband. This pretentious, pompous, English man, with his stupid accent, snobby attitude, unpleasant demeanour, and outrageous ego the size of the earth, she thought to herself while grabbing a jar of chocolate spread, closing the pantry door behind her, before opening several drawers to find a spoon._

_Truth be told, she did not like Klaus very much, thought certain aspect of his male anatomy were not so disgusting to the sight, she shrugged. She could have been easily matched, by the Russian marital agency, with an ugly, old man, but this was not the case. And overall, she would not be the one to crash her sister's dream to live the life of the rich and famous, away from their previous life of misery, even if she would never visualize herself as such._

_She leaned her back on the granite kitchen counter, while opening the jar and taking a full spoon, before entering the dripping brown substance in her mouth. She had now officially reached heaven, she thought, smiling, while closing her eyes, licking the spoon and moaning sounds of pleasure, before seeing flashback images coming into her mind like a forbidden, unspoken sin: his sculpted abs, his muscular chest with drops of water slowly sliding on the "V" line of his manly pelvic area, humid, curly, golden strands of hair, falling on his forehead, his blue eyes like the color of the ocean, his plumper lips.._

" _You know what they say about chocolate, sweetheart?" She heard a deep, sensual, English, voice whispering near her left ear._

_She jumped out of her body at this particular voice sound, while reopening her eyelids and seeing her erotic thoughts materialize in front of her sight._

" _What are you doing here?" She asked, breathless. "I'm sorry…I mean… I did not hear your come?" She resumed, politely, while suddenly noticing his arms encircling her body parameters, both of his hands placed on the counter, on each side of her hips._

" _It's one of my many talents." Klaus responded, smirking. "I love to sneak on people, even more when my, beautiful, future wife is obviously having an ecstasy moment over chocolate, or was it really about chocolate, Carolina?" He murmured, his lips touching her earlobe, his warm breath caressing her skin. "Maybe you were having a sexual fantasy about someone?" He mocked._

" _Don't flatter yourself." She shrugged, while rolling her eyes. "Even if you are technically my fiance, I barely know you."_

" _Well, chocolate is certainly the first erotic compensation of not obtaining what you mind wants, you can't blame me for hoping, Love, especially after your short visit in my bathroom, not even an hour ago." He responded._

" _Maybe I like to eat my chocolate this way: with a spoon and without unwanted interference ruining my pleasure." She pushed a bit further, while taking another full spoon in her mouth, before passing the tip of her tongue on the length of her lips._

_Klaus narrowed his fiery sight, while raising his right hand near Carolina's mouth, and, with the tips of his thumb, he slowly brushed the excess chocolate from the left corner of her lips, before licking his own finger._

_Carolina's heartbeats rose dangerously in her chest, with shortness of breaths taking her by surprise a short moment after. Damn him! She hated his guts so much..._

" _You know, there are so many other ways to enjoy this chocolate orgy." Klaus murmured, his hands slowly sliding from the edge of the counter to the roundness of her hips. "I'm sure that I'll have the chance to experience all of them with my future wife, after our wedding day." He responded, while appreciating every word of their verbal joust._

" _I need time to get to know you. Next week is too soon." She responded, while panting, and feeling the softness of his shaved cheek touching hers._

" _You're such a beautiful liar, Carolina." He softly replied. "Each languorous look you're giving me is an omen of the delightful pleasures to come between us." He added, smirking, before lowering his sight on her feet. "Bare feet, again? You don't listen easily, do you?"_

" _My bare feet don't have any pretension about them. It's not like you, who's walking bare chest all the time." She addressed the issue, while blushing and turning her sight away from his perfect pecs._

" _So regrettable, if I may add, because I would gladly enjoy seeing you walk bare chest all day long, Carolina." He winked, while pulling his body away from her too tempting proximity, before opening the double doors of the enormous fridge._

" _You did not understand the meaning of my sentence." She blushed, before closing the chocolate jar, turning on herself to face the kitchen window, while dropping the spoon in the sink._

" _I know what you meant, Love." He replied, before grabbing a small bottle of water in his hand. "I was doing my routine in the exercise room, which is explaining my bare chest. Not entirely my fault if you have the talent of showing in front of my sight when I am half naked." He audaciously told to her face. "I need to exercise to keep my sculpted body in shape for my future wife and our honeymoon night of course." He mocked more._

" _You do your exercises routine after taking a morning shower?" She responded, while turning on herself, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and raising one of her eyebrows, in attack mode._

_Klaus took a big gulp of water, before lowering the bottle on the kitchen isle, and smirking._

" _No, usually I do it in a logical sequence, Love." He responded, while grimacing at her provocation. "But this morning, I had the unexpected visit of my fiance in my bathroom, and her lovely presence had aroused naughty thoughts in my mind, therefore, I needed a way to let the steam out of my body." He shrugged. "Exercises are as good as any other Technics I guess, though a morning make out session with my future wife would have worked wonders too." He smirked, before lowering his back on the kitchen counter, while crossing his arms and legs._

_Carolina lowered her head and sight away from Klaus's, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat._

" _You must think that I have a sassy and pretentious attitude about myself, and that I am disrespecting you in your own home." She mumbled, against her heart, and while crushing her pride with her bare feet. "It's just that, as of now, I don't feel anything for you." She said, while lying through her teeth. "You need to give me time."_

_Klaus lowered his head, before bursting into loud laughter._

" _Oh, but, Love, I'll give you time…Don't worry your pretty heart about that." He responded, before taking, slow, calculated, steps to reach her standing position. "You have until next Saturday, and our wedding night." He smiled, viciously. "In the meantime, stop lying through your teeth about our obvious sexual attraction for each other." He added, pompously, while lowering his head near Carolina's, his sight lost in hers. "I could easily take you on the kitchen counter right this minute, without even hearing a protestation sound out of your mouth, because you would be moaning your pleasure, and screaming my name from the top of your lungs."_

" _You are so sure of yourself." She mumbled, in anger, while frowning, closing her fists and raising her chin as a confrontational gesture._

" _I know." He smirked, before turning on his heels, while walking to reach the kitchen swinging door. "I'll go take another shower; you care to join me this time?" He mocked._

" _I'll pass." She responded, while pouting._

" _We're going out, Love, go put shoes on those cute feet of yours." He ordered her._

" _Where are we going?" She asked, curious._

" _We're going shopping. I'm going to buy my future wife a brand new, sexy wardrobe, and a wedding dress." He informed, before leaving Carolina speechless and motionless in the middle of the kitchen._

* * *

_The chime of the manor resound its melodious sound through the main corridor. Maria walked toward the entrance door, before tuning the handle and facing the visitor._

" _Mister Salvatore, what a lovely surprise!" She exclaimed, with a truthful smile blessing her lips._

" _Maria, it is always nice to see you, my dear." Stefan Salvatore saluted, before entering inside the main hall. "What an awful weather this country is having? The English winter rain at his best, I suppose." He added, politely, while getting rid of his coat, and handing it to the governess, before standing in front of her eyes, in a top of the brand, tailored, two pieces man suits._

" _Grey sky and rain, Mister Salvatore that is unfortunately our menu for the next few months." She gently mocked, while taking the coat from his hands. "Does Mister Klaus is aware of your arrival?" She asked, politely._

" _Actually no, it's kind of a spontaneous visit. I had some business to attend in London, and I couldn't do without visiting my dear friend." Stefan responded, while rubbing his hands together._

" _I'll go inform him of your arrival." Maria added, while nodding her head._

" _I'll find my way to the main living room, Maria; ask him to meet me there would you?" Stefan responded, while walking in direction of the said downstairs room._

" _Certainly, Mister Salvatore…" Maria responded, before climbing the majestic stairway._

_Stefan pushed the French door of the living room, directing his walking steps toward the bar, before grabbing a bottle of Bourbon in his hands, unaware of a silent presence, nearby._

_Carolina rose on her legs, from her sitting position in one of the luxurious arms chairs, surprised by this unexpected intrusion, while turning her upper body toward the stranger._

" _Oh! I'm so sorry; I did not hear you or notice your presence." Stefan presented his polite apologies, before walking toward Carolina's standing position._

" _It's o.k." Carolina responded, shyly, while nodding her head._

" _Where are my manners? I'm Stefan Salvatore and you are?" He asked the beautiful woman that was standing in front of his sight, while handing his right hand to her._

" _Carolina Petrova" She answered him, while shaking his hand._

" _It's nice to me you, Carolina." Stefan replied, truthfully, while releasing his hand on hers. "You have a lovely first name and a lovely accent, you're from?"_

" _Russia" She answered him, while lowering her sight._

" _It's certainly a beautiful, historical country, which I had the chance to visit, several times in the past." Stefan replied, while sliding his hands in his trousers pockets. "And you are friend with which of the pompous Mikaelson brothers?" Stefan mocked._

" _You're certainly blunt about it." Caroline smiled, amused by his impertinence._

" _It will stay a secret between us." He whispered, while winking at her, charmingly. "I have known the Mikaelsons for what seems to be more than a century now." Stefan mocked. "Can I offer you a drink, Carolina?"_

" _What you could do is certainly leave my "fiancee" alone." A rude, English voice addressed its order to Stefan._

" _Klaus, did you, once again, forget to take your happy pill this morning?" Stefan asked, mockingly, while tilting his head to the right, before taking a few walking steps to reach his friend position._

" _Salvatore, I'm not in the mood for your childish impertinence, what are you doing back in England." Klaus asked, while narrowing his sight on his friend._

" _I had some business to attend in London, and I thought that it would give you the greatest pleasure to see me between two meetings, maybe even share a friendly meal." Stefan responded. "And now, I am learning that the famous and notorious playboy, Klaus Mikaelson is tying the knot? After news like this one, I should certainly stick around longer."_

" _Well, I am happy to see that you are in good shape, Mate." Klaus responded, sneakily. "Now, the door is this way." He showed, smirking, with a hand gesture._

" _Isn't he the most charming man you've ever met?" Stefan asked, while turning his sight toward Carolina's standing position. "Let me at least congratulate your beautiful fiancee that I had no idea existed before this day."_

" _And this charming man will escort your decomposed carcass to the door!" Klaus replied, angrily, while grabbing Stefan left forearm, and pushing him outside the living room, without any further politesse into the corridor, and finally in direction of the main entrance._

" _For God sake, Klaus, What got into you?" Stefan asked, while releasing his arm from the hybrid's firm grip._

" _Me?" Klaus smirked, slyly. "Nothing, Mate, I'm just busy, and I don't have time to chit chat with you at the present moment, and furthermore, I don't want your perfect over styled hairdo near "my" fiancee." Klaus added, while crossing his arms in front of his chest._

" _You're telling me that this theatrical scene that I've just witnessed in the living room was actually real? You were not playing the girl." Stefan asked, in shock._

_Klaus turned his head and sight away from his friend's, both hands resting on his hips, while biting the inside of his cheeks, and stomping his feet on the marble floor._

" _And, what do I see? You're actually jealous? I'll be damn!" Stefan exclaimed, laughing. "Klaus Mikaelson, heartless bastard, you've actually fell for that human Russian girl?"_

" _Leave." Klaus ordered, while closing his fists in anger, his patience was running low at this moment. "My hands are twitching me to snap your vampire heart away from your chest, Salvatore."_

" _Russia?" Stefan said out loud, while rolling his eyes, before suddenly exclaiming. "I'll be damn. You bought yourself a wife, you snaky old man. And a beautiful one if I may add." Stefan finally realized, before bursting into loud laughter, while being very proud of his deduction skills._

_Klaus grabbed Stefan's winter coat from the coat rack, before leaving it in Stefan's hands._

" _There! It was nice seeing you, Salvatore." Klaus said. "Now leave!" He ordered him, before pushing this nuisance out of his home and sight, and slamming the door in front of Stefan's nose._

" _Hey! Mikaelson… I'll come back and you know it!" Stefan yelled through the door, while banging his closed fist on the panel. "I'll haunt you forever with this!" He added, before turning on his heels, with the biggest smile plastered on his lips._

* * *

_Klaus drove the luxurious car inside the private garage of the mansion, before turning the BMW engine off and getting himself out of the driver's seat, while waiting for Carolina to do the same on her side._

_She slowly got out of the car, before slamming the passenger door in a very shrill, loud, noise. She was obviously mad at him, and this even after this expensive shopping spree of five thousand pounds, in which she had only nodded "yes" or "no", while remaining speechless, in all the boutiques he had brought her to buy clothes, shoes, accessories and her wedding dress._

_He let out a small growl sound, while pushing the automatic control that he was holding in his right hand to open the trunk._

" _I'll ask one of the maids to bring all the bags to your suite." He informed her, with a detached voice._

" _How convenient to have people ran at your every request." Carolina responded, while crossing her arms in front of her chest, and raising her chin as a confrontational gesture._

" _They are well paid for their services, Carolina." He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _I guess, like I am well paid for the services that I will soon give to you?" She added, slyly._

_Klaus turned his angry sight back at her, before sighing loudly and taking a few walking steps to reach her position. Carolina stumbled backward, before feeling the garage wall in her back._

" _What is your problem, Love?" He snapped, while pacing back and forth, his hands on each side of his waist. "I've just spend a huge amount of money to make you happy, with woman stuff, and yet, you are not satisfied?"_

" _Maybe I can't be bought so easily with nice stuff; did you ever think of that?" She replied to him, her opened palms placed on the wall._

" _It's kind of funny; I could have attested of the contrary, sweetheart." He replied, sneakily to her, before closing his eyes, and rapidly regretting his say._

" _You're a mean man." Carolina mumbled between her teeth, while shaking her head and feeling tears filling her eyes._

" _I didn't mean it. You pushed me to my limit." Klaus admitted, while closing his fists. "I am doing my very best to make this contract disappear between us, Carolina, why don't you give me the benefit of the doubt for once?"_

" _You want me to give you the benefit of the doubt, Klaus?" She asked. "Like the way, earlier, that you've made me look like a prostitute in front of your friend Stefan without having the decency to present me as your fiancee, in another way than: letting him think that you'd bought yourself a wife?" She yelled into his face._

" _You've heard my exchanged conversation with Stefan?" He asked, while passing a nervous hand through his hair. "What is happening between us is not of his business, as simple as that. I'm a wealthy - powerful man, Carolina, you don't even know the half of it, and so is my brother, so you'll have to excuse us if we are not spreading our private life on the public place!"_

" _You think that it is not degrading for me to be in this present situation?" She lashed out more. "You think that I am enjoying myself, while being bought for my services?"_

" _You're the first woman who was able to take the place of a wife in my life, you should actually reverse your psychology, and think of your blessings." Klaus angrily responded._

" _I should think of my blessings?" She laughed. "What blessings? At least you friend Stefan respected me more in the five minutes that we exchanged together."_

_Klaus approached Carolina position, before lowering his head near hers, and drowning his sight in hers._

" _What are you saying that you would prefer to have him in your bed?" Klaus mumbled, between his teeth._

" _Don't be ridiculous!" She responded. "What I'm saying is that it's hard for me to turn my real emotions as you want them to be. I don't see myself falling in love with you, and I am certainly not attracted to you." She busted in the same anger he was showing to her. "I just need to learn that this "thing" between us is not more than a signed contract…You bought yourself a wife, and here I am!"_

" _I don't need any "love", Carolina... I'm heartless; it's something that you will soon learn about me." Klaus startled under her verbal attack. "But, as of you not being attracted to me, sweetheart, really?" He smiled sadistically. "Let me just prove the contrary to your analysis." He added, before grabbing both of her wrists and pushing them above her head on the wall._

" _No!" She protested, squirming to free herself, while turning her head alternatively, right to left._

_Then, he forcefully grabbed her chin in his right hand, while holding her head immobile and keeping his grip on her wrists with his left at the same time, before crashing his mouth on Carolina's._

_She protested for the longest time, while moaning sounds of disapproval under his reckless and sensual abduction, but the pressure of his hard, manly lips on her trembling ones made Carolina suffocate for air, and she finally accepted the inevitable, while letting him invade the warm of her mouth, under his own sounds of pleasure._

_Unfortunately for Carolina, her future husband was extremely talented in his kissing skills. So much, that when he released his firm grip on her wrists, it was instinctively that her hands found their way around his neck, in the thickness of his hair, while grabbing two hands full of his tangled blondish curls._

_Klaus pushed his body on Carolina's, while slowly sliding his wandering hands on her waist, hips, lower back, before grabbing her bottom under her small moan of protestation, while kissing her passionately, in a mix of nibbling her wet lips and conquering her mouth with his tongue. The continuous sounds of her beating heart in his ears, melodious melody that reminded him of her delicious nectar running freely in her vein._

_Klaus finally pushed himself away from their embrace, before passing the back of his right hand on his mouth, to erase any trace of Carolina's scent on his skin._

" _Who needs frivolous feelings when we can have this sexual passion between us, Love?" He mockingly asked her. "At least something that we know that we'll be good at in our marriage, would you say?"_

_Carolina took several jerky breaths in her lungs, while raising a hand over her chest to calm herself down. She finally raised her head proudly to his sight, with tears filling her eyes, before storming out of the garage, while leaving Klaus behind with his tormented, demoniac soul as only companion._


	6. For our marriage(s)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia** _

_Unfortunately for Carolina, her future husband was extremely talented in his kissing skills. So much, that when he released his firm grip on her wrists, it was instinctively that her hands found their way around his neck, in the thickness of his hair, while grabbing two hands full of his tangled blondish curls._

_Klaus pushed his body on Carolina's, while slowly sliding his wandering hands on her waist, hips, lower back, before grabbing her bottom under her small moan of protestation, while kissing her passionately, in a mix of nibbling her wet lips and conquering her mouth with his tongue. The continuous sounds of her beating heart in his ears, melodious melody that reminded him of her delicious nectar running freely in her vein._

_Klaus finally pushed himself away from their embrace, before passing the back of his right hand on his mouth, to erase any trace of Carolina's scent on his skin._

" _Who needs frivolous feelings when we can have this sexual passion between us, Love?" He mockingly asked her. "At least something that we know that we'll be good at in our marriage, would you say?"_

_Carolina took several jerky breaths in her lungs, while raising a hand over her chest to calm herself down. She finally raised her head proudly to his sight, with tears filling her eyes, before storming out of the garage, while leaving Klaus behind with his tormented, demoniac soul as only companion._

* * *

_**You are cordially invited to the weddings' reception of:** _

_**Duke Elijah Mikaelson & Madam Katherine Pierce, Mikealson** _

_**And his sibling,** _

_**Duke Klaus Mikaelson and Madam Caroline Forbes, Mikealson** _

* * *

_Carolina thought she could almost feel the almonds scones under her fingers while trying to grab one from the bottom of a glass jar placed on the kitchen counter. This was a top secret KGB mission. Nothing less but this superior league would work under the careful watch of Maria, the_ _**Kitchen Terminator** _ _of this manor. She finally grabbed one, with the tip of her fingers, while smirking and thinking that this assigned nickname was actually sticking to perfection to the skin of the English governess._

" _May I be of some assistance, Miss Carolina?" Maria asked, in a neutral tone of voice, while silently sneaking in the kitchen, behind the young woman._

_Carolina startled, while losing her grip on the scone, under a grunt of resignation, before turning to face the one and only:_ _**Kitchen Terminator** _ _._

" _No, thank you." She replied, exasperated, while sweeping her hands on her jeans. "I was simply hungry and looking for a snack."_

" _I perfectly understand, Miss Carolina, but you most know that I am at your service at all times. It is not your duty but mine, to serve you. I'll prepare you a sandwich if you want?" Maria suggested, while approaching the fridge._

" _No, I don't want a sandwich, I want an almonds scone." Carolina answered, while pointing a finger toward the jar and biting her bottom lip to not burst into anger in front of the severe English woman. "And I was capable of doing this task by myself."_

" _Very well, Miss Carolina, as you wish. But, it will be of my obligation to serve you." Maria replied, forced to obey, while opening a kitchen cabinet to take a small porcelain plate from one of the shelf. "Though, I believe that a consistent sandwich would be a better choice before getting ready for your wedding day, which could become quite exhausting and long."_

" _You hate me, don't you?" Carolina asked the governess, before crossing her arms in front of her chest, while stomping her bare right foot on the marble kitchen floor._

" _I'm sorry, Miss Carolina?" Maria exclaimed, in shock, while turning on herself, a hand placed over her chest. "Could you explain to me what made you come to such horrible assumption? Was I not respectful to you?"_

_Carolina suddenly lost all her colors, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat. If she was perfectly honest with herself, all the nervousness of today had very little if not at all to do with Maria._

" _No." She replied shyly, while blushing._

" _Did I miss my governess obligations toward you, Miss Carolina?" Maria asked some more._

" _No, no, and no." Caroline replied, this time more firmly. "It's this thing you do with your nose. You frown and you look at me like I don't know what I'm doing or talking about, and then you use that … That … You know that timber of voice, which sounds like a school teacher."_

_Maria smiled, before lowering her head to hide her amusement, while crossing her hands in front of her chest._

" _And now, you are obviously laughing at me." She added to the help._

" _No, I'm not. Please accept my deepest apologies for …_ _ **My**_ _timber of voice, Miss Carolina." Maria apologized, while raising her sight. "Unfortunately, my child, this timber of voice is called the_ _ **English accent**_ _. It is most of time, pompous, pretentious, and inappropriate, but I have it since childhood and I don't think I'll be able to get rid of it."_

" _Oh…" Carolina replied, while sliding her hands in her back jeans pockets. "Right, so it's the way you spoke in general, not only to me, then?"_

" _It's the polite way that I was raised by my parents and at school to address myself to people in general, and my superiors at work, Miss Carolina." Maria nodded._

" _I'm sorry; I made a fool of myself." Carolina replied, while shaking her head. "I have no right to attack you this way."_

" _On the contrary, Miss Carolina, I thank you for bringing your discomfort to my attention." Maria replied, before pushing toward Caroine, the small porcelain plate with two almonds scones placed on it._

" _Thank you." Carolina smiled, while grabbing one of the scones, before biting full teeth into it._

" _I'm thinking that, perhaps, the nervousness of the day is taking the best of your strength?" Maria asked, with one raised eyebrow._

_Carolina shrugged her shoulders, while avoiding looking at the governess in the eyes._

" _I don't know how … I don't know how to think or how to act, today?" She finally admitted. "I've never been married before. My sister is trying to guide me, but she never been married either."_

" _I see." Maria replied, while tilting her head. "Maybe you don't need to think or act; maybe you just need to enjoy yourself, while taking time to know your future husband."_

" _Maybe…" She replied the governess, while shrugging her shoulders some more, before raising her sight in Maria's. "What kind of men are they? I mean… How do you portray them in your head?"_

" _I'm in a very delicate position to answer this question." Maria replied, while sighing._

" _Never mind, then." Carolina said, while shaking her head. "You're right."_

" _But, I believe because of the lack of a motherly presence by your side today, you deserve at least an answer." Maria replied, while seeing a smile bless Carolina's lips. "They are both respectful men, with much righteousness and strength inside of them. Mister Elijah is more old fashion, in opposite, Mister Klaus is more of a free spirit. They both have something in common, though, a high appreciation for family, and they are usually respectful to their staff members."_

" _Thank you." Carolina murmured, appreciatively._

" _You're welcome, Miss Carolina." Maria replied, while turning on herself before opening a drawer and grabbing a small gift box from its inside. "Please accept this small gift as a good luck charm for your wedding day, my child."_

" _It's for me?" Carolina exclaimed, in surprise, before grabbing the box and pulling on the yellow ribbon to open it._

" _It's a blue handkerchief with your maiden initials_ _ **"C"**_ _and_ _ **"P"**_ _woven on it." Maria explained._

" _It's quite beautiful." Carolina replied, while pulling the handkerchief out of the box, with tears filling her eyes. "Thank you." She murmured, while nodding her head to the governess._

" _You're quite welcome." Maria replied, smiling._

_Carolina walked toward the kitchen swinging doors, holding immobile for a few seconds, her right hand placed on one of the panel, before turning her sight toward Maria._

" _Your accent is not that bad after all, I could get used to it." She teased the governess._

" _Well, it's certainly good news for me to hear, Miss Carolina." Maria smiled in return. "And, if I may… Miss Carolina?"_

" _Yes?" Carolina answered, while pushing the door, before taking a last glimpse at the governess._

" _Don't forget to wear some shoes today." Maria mocked._

* * *

_Katerina posed in front of the length mirror, one hand firmly placed on the right side of her waist crucible while twisting her head and torso to take a look at the back of her wedding dress: a long row of delicate pearl-buttons over a long train made in the most exquisite fabric of Italian satin._

_This extravagant purchase on this single article, and expensive splurge on herself had cost her future husband:_ _**eight thousand pounds,** _ _and just repeating this amount of money in her head was enough to make it spine. Strange enough, Elijah had stayed stoic and emotionless in front of the global amount of money she had spent in one single day of shopping in central London._

_A discreet cough made her turn on herself before facing_ _**Maria** _ _, the governess, who was standing on the threshold of the walk-in closet, with her hands crossed in front of her chest._

" _Can I be or service, Madam, before taking an hour off my working time to get ready for yours, and your sister's weddings?" She politely asked the young woman, while nodding her head in respect._

" _Would it be too much to ask you to help me? I think one of the buttons in the back of my dress is unattached?"Katerina asked the governess, as a favor._

" _Of course not, I'll certainly help you with that task, Madam." Maria answered, politely, while approaching Katerina's position in front of the mirror, before attaching the said delicate button. "You are very beautiful, and the dress is quite exquisite." She added, while addressing a smile to Katerina, in the mirror._

" _You think? Thank you." Katerina replied, shyly. "The dress is maybe a bit much to wear for the town hall?"_

" _I'm not the one to judge." Maria replied, before adding. "But, it's your wedding day after all, Madam, how can it be too much in this special occasion?"_

" _I'm not used to this opulence." She tried to explain, while shrugging her shoulders, before passing her hands nervously on the silk fabric of her dress. "But I fell in love with the fabric; it's so soft on my skin."_

" _I'm certain that Mister Mikaelson was more than happy to offer you this luxury. He's a very strict, wealthy man, but also a kind one." Maria added, before handing a small gift box to Katerina._

" _What is this?" Katerina asked, surprised, while grabbing the small box from Maria's hands._

" _Nothing really fancy, Madam, it's a simple token of my gratitude for inviting me to your wedding." Maria explained, while crossing her arms behind her back._

" _You should address this to my fiance." Katerina stated, before blushing at her own saying. Naming Elijah her fiance seemed unreal even as of today, their wedding day. "I mean it should be Mister Mikaelson that you should thank, not me."_

" _It's in good form and respect to offer my best wishes to the future bride. I did, of course, present the same gift to your sister." Maria added as an explanation for her action._

_Katerina glanced at Maria before pulling the yellow ribbon and opening the gift box. Inside, a beautiful, lace, blue handkerchief, woven with her first and last name initials:_ _**"K" and "P."** _

" _It's beautiful." Katerina exclaimed, tears filling her eyes, while taking the delicate handkerchief out of the box._

" _Well, I'm grateful that you are pleased with this small gesture, Madam. I thought that something_ _ **blue, old and borrowed**_ _could certainly bring you good luck on your wedding day, your dress being the_ _ **new**_ _, of course. And the woven initials would be a souvenir of your life as a celibate woman. " Maria explained, while regaining her formal self._

" _Thank you … Old? I don't want to take something from your hands that is a family heirloom or something?" Katerina replied, while shaking her head, before folding the handkerchief back into the box and handing it to the governess. "I know how precious those souvenirs are."_

" _No, please, Madam, I can assure you there is more from where this one came from." She replied to Katerina, while closing both of her hands on hers._

" _Thank you, then…I'll have it on me today." She replied, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat. Even if the Mikaelson's governess had always acted in a very strict, English kind of old fashion way, she had always been very respectful to Katerina and her sister since their arrival._

" _If I can't be of any service, I will leave you now, Madam. I wish you a lot of happiness on your wedding day." Maria announced, formally, while nodding her head in respect, before turning on her heels to leave the walk-in closet. She suddenly stopped her walking path, before lowering her sight on the carpet, with a smile twisting the corners of her lips. "Beautiful shoes, Madam." She added, while looking at the white, exquisite, wedding shoes._

" _You think?" Katerina said, proudly. "They told me at the boutique that these shoes were Lou…Lou something… It's a well-known designer?"Katerina mumbled, before shaking her head, and biting her bottom lip, while not remembering the correct appellation._

" _Louboutin shoes, Madam. It's a prestigious, well known, worldwide luxury designer shoe. You can recognize the mark trend by the red sole underneath." Maria explained, to the young Russian woman, with a hint of amusement in the voice._

" _Well…They are certainly costing a fortune to my future husband." Katerina added, smirking, while shrugging her shoulders._

" _Well it is a luxury that I would certainly grant myself one day, if I could." Maria replied, with a discreet wink._

" _They are four inches tall." She replied, proudly to the governess._

" _I see." Maria nodded, while trying to hold her laughter. "Well, do not worry too much about the height of the shoes, Madam; I think your future husband will still be an inch taller than you." She added, before leaving Katerina speechless and motionless in the middle of the walk-in closet._

_Damn! She should have gone for the five inches style…_

* * *

" _What is this?" Katerina exclaimed in anger, while bursting into Elijah's study room, in a slam noise of the door, holding in one hand an invitation card and the skirts of her wedding dress with the other._

" _I wish you a good day too, Katerina." Elijah replied, while keeping his sight fixated on an open file placed on his desktop. "It's our wedding day, hopefully you did not forget?" He added, while raising his sight, before startling at the angelic vision that suddenly appeared in front of his eyes._

" _You don't say?" She replied, slyly, while fuming with rage, both of her closed fists firmly placed on each side of her waist._

_Elijah slowly rise on his legs, before taking slow, calculated steps to reach his fiancée standing position. A few buttons of his man shirt opened on his muscular chest, the sleeves rolled on his forearms, with his hands firmly placed inside his trousers' front pockets._

" _You look beautiful." He whispered, while sliding his appreciative sight on her wedding dress. "You're breathtaking actually, a real vision." He added, truthfully, while raising his right hand to slowly caress the softness of her left cheek._

_She closed her eyes for a few second, while feeling a range of delightful shivers hitting her spine, before feeling his breath caressing her right earlobe, his head suddenly so close of hers._

" _Katerina…" He said, while rolling the "R" on his tongue, in a velvety whispered sound, before sliding a strand of her hair behind her left ear. "You must know that it is said bad luck for the fiance to see his future bride in her wedding dress?"_

_Her eyelids slowly opened, before losing her sight in Elijah's, under the strong effect of his presence near her trembling body._

" _You're trembling, are you cold?" He asked, in a worried tone of voice, before stroking the lengths of her bare arms with his opened palms, helping her blood recirculate in her body._

" _I'm fine!" She replied, before backing away from him with the right heel of her shoe stuck in the carpet. She would have lost her balance in the process, if not for Elijah's quickness of mind to bring her against his chest, both of his hands firmly placed on each side of her waist._

" _Are you ok?" He murmured, his head leaning on hers._

" _Yes." She mumbled, between her teeth. "I'm ok."_

" _Nice shoes." He added, smirking, while lowering his head to take a quick glimpse at the Louboutins. "Be careful walking with these shoes, you could injure your ankles one day if you keep wearing high heels. Is it really worth it, Katerina, to reach my height?" He mocked, implying that he perfectly knew the reason of her stubbornness on the subject._

" _Yes!" She replied, firmly. "And, I know how to walk in high heels shoes, thank you for your concerns, Elijah." She added, angrily, before backing away for the second time. "As for bad luck on our wedding day, this should certainly suffice." She busted, while throwing the invitation card in his face._

_Elijah glanced at her for a few seconds, before sighing loudly and bending his upper body to grab the card which had felt on the carpet._

" _What? You don't like the coloring of the paper? Pink would have pleased you better I suppose?" He replied, sharply, while turning on his heels and walking to take his sitting position back at his desk._

" _You promised_ _ **equality**_ _,_ _ **respect**_ _, and_ _ **truthfulness**_ _in this arranged marriage, are you really the man of honor you told me you were? Or was it only a beautiful speech presented to what you thought in your head was a stupid girl?" Katerina asked, while gesturing with her hands and arms._

" _Hot tempered, stubborn, a volcano in irruption, that_ _ **you**_ _certainly are, but stupid, I've never thought even for a second that you were. As for my reputation, I am known to mankind to be a man of honor, yes." He reaffirmed. "What is this tantrum really about, Katerina?" He asked, firmly._

" _бог!"_ _ **God**_ _, she swore in Russian, while grabbing her hair with both hands. "And you have the audacity to ask me, when you perfectly know what this is all about." She replied to him._

" _You know that swearing in Russian will not ease your mood." He noticed, while shaking his head. "As for the reason of your… indisposition, I have a good idea, yes." He replied, while narrowing his sight on her._

" _Well, perfect then, Duke Mikaelson!" She exclaimed, while walking to reach the front edge of the desk, while standing in near proximity of his sitting one. "So, I'll go change into something more casual than this wedding dress that I am wearing, to present myself at your wedding with…What was the name on the invitation card?" She asked, while grabbing the card thrown on his desktop. "Oh yes:_ _ **Miss Katherine Pierce**_ _, because this woman is certainly not me!" She yelled, while bending her upper body over Elijah's desk, each of her opened palms placed on each side of her body, directly on the desk top._

_Elijah kept his fiery eyes in hers, before sensually lowering his sight on her bare shoulders, lower on the silkiness of her neckline skin, before ending his descent on the roundness of her breasts, a smile of appreciation twisting the sides of his lips._

_She blushed, before strengthening her upper body, and crossing her arms in front of her chest, as a protection mechanism._

" _I've told you before, Katerina, this is a legal arrangement between us, with multiple clauses." He explained, while rising on his legs. "Yes, you're entitled to a lot of freedom in our marriage, but certain crucial decisions that I'll make regarding our mutual agreement are not of your concerns." He added, while pointing a finger at her._

" _My own name is not of my concern?" She busted at him. "Since when did you reach that conclusion? I'm proud of my Russian origins, Elijah, and I won't let you dictate so easily who I should be. I'll prepare my luggage; we'll go back to Russia, the sooner will be the better." She added, before raising the skirts of her wedding dress, turning on her heels, with the obvious intention of leaving Elijah's office._

_He grabbed Katerina by her right wrist, while pulling her forcefully near his chest, before holding her prisoner with both of her arms crossed behind her back, his face leaning at a near inch of hers._

" _Instead of being moody, we could instead practice the kiss after our "_ _ **I do**_ _"?" He tried to mock to relax the atmosphere between them._

" _Let me go, and in the meantime go kiss your new fiancee_ _ **Katherine**_ _!" She replied, angrily._

" _Stop acting so foolishly, you're going nowhere, woman." He replied, at a near inch of her face. "Before the day is over you'll be_ _ **"my wife"**_ _! Is this clear to you?" He ordered her._

" _Oh, yes, and who's saying so?" Katerina replied, while raising her chin, as a confrontational gesture._

" _Me…I said so! Therefore, enter this information in your tick skull and stubborn head of yours." He warned her. "You and your sister will change your names for security purposes. We are powerful men, in this world, Katerina, and with this responsibly come its load of enemies. I don't want any of those enemies to figure out your origins or that Carolina is your sister. And I certainly don't want them to harm you in the future."_

" _You were able to certainly figure out my past and the one of my sister, what's making you think that your enemies are not as intelligent as you are?" She lashed out more, while raising one of her eyebrow at him._

" _Touché, my dear" He smirked, while sliding his appreciate sight on her. "See, you're not stupid, Katerina." He added, while raising one eyebrow of his own. "Except for thinking that one of my enemies could win any battle over me."_

" _Well, a girl can only dream. Now, let go of me!" She yelled, while squirming to free herself away from his imprisonment, but without reaching such luck."_

" _Are you listening to me, woman?" He yelled, himself, while grabbing both of her shoulders, making Katerina suddenly startled with fear._

" _Yes." She finally responded, breathless, her eyes lost in his._

" _Good!" He approved. "These new given names could never erase your origins or make you something that you are not, don't you put that silliness in your head. This technicality had the only purpose to protect both you and your sister. Do you understand what I am explaining to you, Katerina?" He demanded again._

" _Yes." She replied, for the second time. "I'm not stupid."_

" _Good!" He repeated, before slowly releasing his grip on her shoulders, before walking toward the opposite side of the desk. "I'll go change in a short while; we'll see each other again at the town hall, where both the formalities of the name change and our marriage will take place."_

_Katerina frowned, while abruptly turning on her heels, before walking toward the French doors of her fiance's office. The sooner she'll be out of Elijah's study room, the sooner she'll be able to let go of the contained rage inside of her. Damn this man and his superiority!_

" _Katerina?" He called the name, making her held her pace, while staying motionless in front of the doors, with her right hand placed on the handle._

" _Shouldn't you say_ _ **Katherine**_ _instead, Elijah?" She asked, tit for tat, without turning her head to look at him._

" _You'll always be_ _ **Katerina**_ _to me … Now and forever." He added, with a timid smile._

* * *

_Carolina placed the several skirts of her wedding dress on her bare, long legs, before raising her sight and suddenly startling at Klaus's reflection in the full length mirror._

" _Snooping on people is one of your things I suppose?" Carolina asked, while raising her chin in a confrontational gesture._

" _You're not_ _ **people**_ _to me, Love; you're soon to be my better half." He replied sarcastically, while smirking and crossing his arms in front of his chest before leaning the right side of his body on the arch door of the walk-in closet._

_He was, himself, already dressed, while wearing an impeccable three pieces man suit, with only his silk tie undone around his neck._

" _I'll be the better half of you? Mm…" She repeated, mockingly, while raising an eyebrow. "That is certainly an ascertainment that I can believe." She added, while passing her hands on the silk fabric of her expensive wedding dress._

" _You tongue is moving at the speed of your mind, sweetheart, I was not asking for less on our wedding day." He mocked, while sliding his fiery sight on her body._

" _I want to keep you entertained; I don't want us to become an old couple before our time, Klaus." She replied, slyly, while narrowing her sight in Klaus's._

" _Touché, my dear Carolina." Klaus responded, amused, before lowering his head and busting into loud laughter. "You're already lighting up my day." He added, while taking a few walking steps to reach her standing position, before placing himself in her back and lowering his head in the hollow of her left shoulder, slowly raising his mouth near her earlobe before murmuring. "I can only imagine what you'll do to brighten up our wedding night?"_

_Carolina startled, before raising her chin and holding her gaze in Klaus's._

" _Isn't it said that only an experienced lover can bring a woman to flourish in her sensuality?" She replied, tit for tat._

" _Do you doubt that fact about me, Love?" He smirked, while passing the tip of his fingers in the hollows of her bare shoulders._

" _Big talk, no action… Most of the men are actually like that." She replied, while shrugging her shoulders, under a range of jerky breaths. If only he could stop touching her skin that way …_

" _Are you asking me to prove you how competent I am in that area of expertise, Carolina?" He whispered, amused, his lips near her ear, while slowly nibbling on her earlobe. "Aren't you afraid of arriving very late to your own weeding? I don't do quickies. It's not the way I operate. I like to make the woman beg for more."_

" _No! … I, I'm not! I'm just noticing that you seem quite sure of yourself and your abilities to seduce a woman that is_ _ **not, even, in love with you**_ _." She replied, while blushing, before adding. "If you could leave me alone now, please, I need to get ready."_

" _Oh but, Love, you don't get a man worked up with sex talk, only to let him down, after." He protested, smirking, sliding his hands on her hips, before bringing her shaking body on his muscular chest, while encircling her tiny waist with his hands and arms, his lips slowly sliding on the silkiness of her neck._

" _Let me go, I need to get ready, Klaus." She pleaded, breathless, while trying to untie his hands, firmly placed on her waist, but without succeeding._

" _Getting ready? You're already wearing your wedding dress." He mocked. "If not for the exception of the missing shoes… like always, Cinderella."_

" _Don't you know that it is considered bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?" She tried to argue some more, without believing one single word of her own say._

" _That is a bowl of crap, Love! You're like me; you don't believe one word of this nonsense." He murmured, while softly biting the tender base of her neck. "Plus, I look more forward of seeing you undressed…I would gladly marry you naked." He mocked, smirking._

" _What makes you think that I am ready? I'm, barely, trying to get to know the stranger that you are to me, Klaus. Why would I be in a hurry to jump into bed with you?" She tried to battle her feelings and her way out of this dangerous situation, while feeling his hands slide downward, on the length of her legs, in top of her silk skirt, before reaching the hem of the wedding dress._

_He raised her many skirts on her legs, with extreme dexterity, while touching the bare skin of her thighs just above the lace suspenders, before sliding the zipper of her dress down in her back … Slowly, sensually, erotically, the tip of his fingers sliding on the silkiest part of her body, like a musician on the strings of his instrument._

_Damn this man and his extreme "Savoir faire"! Carolina lowered her head on his chest, while closing her eyes, mouth opened, with pleasurable moaning sounds suddenly caressing her sudden luscious lips._

" _What makes me think that you're ready to be in my bed?" He whispered, while teasing her, before sliding his right hand under her dress to cup one of her breasts. "The beatings of your heart are always rising dangerously when I am near you, your lips become fuller… You always bite your bottom one, in a secret code for me to kiss you." He murmured more, while suddenly turning her body around to face him, raising Carolina in his arms, his hands firmly placed under her bottom, before pushing her body on the walk-in mirror placed behind them._

" _Klaus we can't!" She murmured, breathless, while grabbing two hands full of his golden hair, his lips now devouring every inch of skin on her neckline, down on the curves of her breasts._

" _You have avoided me all week, since the last time we've kissed in the garage, why, Carolina?" He mumbled, almost incoherently, while raising his fiery eyes in her gaze, before lowering his lips and softly nibbling on her bottom length._

" _I'm scare of you." She replied; with her trembling lips murmuring the words in top of Klaus's._

" _Are you scared of me or are you more scared of yourself? Afraid of the woman you could become in my arms, in my bed, while becoming my wife, Love?" He asked, sensually, while passing his thumb on the length of her bottom lips. "I have so much to teach you…"_

" _Put me down, please?" She begged him, her chest heaving under her jerky breaths._

_Klaus lowered her shaking legs on the carpet, before placing his hands on her waist to help Carolina keep her balance._

" _Are you able to stand?" He asked, half serious, half teasing._

" _Yes." She replied, proudly. "Of course I am able to stand." She added, while pulling her wedding dress on her chest, before facing the mirror, her hands in her hair._

_What she saw in that said mirror took her by surprise: her tangled sex hair, her swollen lips, her burning eyes, her pink cheeks. She shook her head, while taking deep breaths. This sensual encounter didn't mean anything… It was just a sudden weakness of her part._

" _Could you … "She started. "Could you zip me up, please?"_

_Klaus oblige to her request, while smirking at her blushing reflection in the mirror._

" _What man would care about a feeling as frivolous as "_ _ **love"**_ _when he can have a woman who obviously desires him as much as he desires her?" He murmured near her left ear, a satisfied smile plastered on his lips._

_She slowly turned on herself, before drowning her sight in his._

" _A man that doesn't seem to even know what_ _ **"love"**_ _even means." She replied, slyly._

_Klaus lost his mile in a fraction of second, while sighing loudly, his sight narrowed on her, before closing his fists in anger._

_He suddenly turned on himself, while lowering his upper body to grab her wedding shoes left on the carpet, before handing the pair to Carolina._

" _Don't forget to put your shoes." He simply said, toneless, while avoiding her sight. "I'll wait for you downstairs." He added, before walking out of the walk-in closet, leaving Carolina alone and breathless._

* * *

_Katherina rushed into the parlor room, while raising the skirts of her wedding dress in her hands. She reached the bar console, before lowering her head, closing her eyes and sighing loudly, while trying to catch her breath. She grabbed one of the Vodka bottles, before pouring herself a full glass and drinking its content in one single gulp, coughing a second later under the strong effect of the alcohol in her throat._

" _Drunk, already, even before marrying Elijah?" She heard a male voice addressed to her. "My bad, I always thought that the drunkenness part only came after years of marriage?"_

_Katerina startled hard, before turning on herself, one hand placed over her chest._

" _I'm sorry…." She mumbled, while shaking her head, her right hand placed on her forehead. "I did not see you sitting there."_

" _I've noticed, my dear." A middle age man responded, before rising on his legs from his sitting position in one of leather armchairs. "So, you are Miss Katerina Petrova … Russian girl, or should I say, private Russian escort?" The man added, with a pernicious smile, while approaching Katerina's standing position. He had the same demeanor and gentleman manners than Elijah, but his sight was colder and his all aura, much darker._

" _Who are you?" She asked, while losing all coloring in her cheeks._

" _He always had this obsession for brunettes. He was in love before with a woman that could have been the spitting image of you, my dear, **Tatia** was her name." The man continued explaining, while raising a hand to caress her left cheek._

_Katerina took a few steps back while avoiding his hand._

" _Playing hard to get, as I can see,_ _ **Katerina**_ _? That is probably what drew him to you." He said, smirking. "Maybe, after he is done with you, I could require your escort services?" He added, perniciously._

" _Or I could grab you by the scruff of your bones, pull your poisoned heart out of your chest, and leave you in the cold for the wolves to finish your carcass." They both heard Elijah addressed the man, while entering the parlour room. "What are you doing here, father?" Elijah asked, under the speechless expression of Katerina._


	7. For our marriage(s) - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

**_Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia_ **

(…)

"I've noticed, my dear." A middle age man responded, before rising on his legs from his sitting position in one of leather armchairs. "So, you are Miss Katerina Petrova … Russian girl, or should I say, private Russian escort?" The man added, with a pernicious smile, while approaching Katerina's standing position. He had the same demeanor and gentleman manners than Elijah, but his sight was colder and his all aura, much darker.

"Who are you?" She asked, while losing all coloring in her cheeks.

"He always had this obsession for brunette. He was in love before with a woman that could have been the spitting image of you, my dear, Tatia was her name." The man continued, while raising a hand to caress her left cheek.

Katerina took a few steps back while avoiding the man's hand.

"Playing hard to get, as I can see, Katerina? That is probably what drew him to you." He said, smirking. "Maybe, after he is done with you, I could require your escort services?" He added, perniciously.

"Or I could grab you by the scruff of your bones, pull your poisoned heart out of your chest, and leave you in the cold for the wolves to finish your carcass." They both heard Elijah addressed the man, while entering the parlor room. "What are you doing here, father?" Elijah asked, under the speechless expression of Katerina.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, how can one father not present himself and his good wishes to the future bride at the marriage of his eldest son?" Mikael replied, while burying both hands in his trousers' pockets, his sight drown in the one of Elijah.

"You weren't invited, father, and you are not wanted in these walls either." Elijah mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "I'm asking you to leave." He ordered him.

"Are you ready for such commitment as the one of marriage, my dear, with a controlling and ordering man like my son?" Mikael asked Katerina, while turning his sight toward the young woman. "Though, I suppose a large amount of money came as compensation for your services, or am I mistaken?" He demanded. "But, then again, you must be very experimented in bed with your background as a private escort, for my son to even think of marrying such a low class woman, such as yourself; no disrespect intended, we all do what we have to do to survive in this miserable life."

"That's enough!" Elijah yelled. "You'll respect Katerina, under my roof, or you'll leave. Don't make me use force to get you out of my house, father."

Mikael disregard Elijah words while taking a few additional steps to place himself in front of Katerina, his eyes in search of finding the deepness of her soul.

"Poor Russian girl, you have no idea what future is awaiting you. You don't know all the deep, dark secrets that your fiancé is forbidding you to see; you have no idea that one day your mortal life will spiral into your own descent in hell, by his hands." He explained, a devious smile blessing his lips.

Katerina raised her teary eyes in the ones of the villain man who stood immobile in front of her sight, soon to be called her father-in-law, her mind suddenly in a deep blur of this strange and disrespectful encounter. She felt dirty in the worst ways possible, all of a sudden, and terribly sick in the depths of her stomach.

"If you would excuse-me…" She managed to mumble, while dragging her shoes and unbalanced path toward the french doors of the parlor room, before passing by Elijah's standing position.

He forcefully grabbed her right forearm, before slowly sliding his hand on the length of her bare skin, on her delicate wrist, interlacing his fingers with hers a second later.

"My wife stays by my side, Katerina, as I'll stay by her side." He said, while drowning his sight in hers. "I want you out of this house; Mikael, this will be the last time I'll order you to leave." Elijah repeated, before turning his cold glance toward his father.

"Very well, I'll oblige this time, Elijah." He agreed, smirking, while pulling on his blazer's sleeves, before adding. "By the way, my dear, if you think that my legitimate son will become your worst nightmare, you should seriously think about your own sister, which future will be gloomier in so many more ways than yours, considering that she is marrying the bastard of my wife' wombs, or if you prefer to call him: the beast." He added, before nodding his head, and greeting her. "Until our next…Encounter, my dear."

His footsteps echoed on the marble floor, before completely leaving the space of her troubled mind.

"Let me go." She mumbled the words, while pulling on Elijah's firm grip on her hand. "Let me go!" She yelled this time around, while hitting his chest with her left fist.

"Katerina, you need to calm down!" He ordered her, while grabbing both of her wrists, before pushing them both toward the wall behind her back. "Do not listen to my father; he is a twisted, sick man with a dark past."

"No, no, no … I want to leave … I made a mistake, where's my sister?" She yelled, incoherently, tears rolling freely on her cheeks.

"Katerina, look at me, look into my eyes." Elijah demanded, while grabbing her chin in his hand to force her to stare into the deepness of his soul. "That is what he wanted for you to feel, he wanted for the strong foundation under your feet to move, don't let him succeed."

"I want out of the deal." She begged, breathless, her mascara running under her eyes. "Let me leave with my sister."

"And you will go back to what, Katerina, a life of misery? I thought you wanted more for your sister, and deep down for yourself?" Elijah asked her, more troubled that he would admit to himself at the thought of seeing this woman, his future promised wife, disappear from his life. "Don't cry…Please don't cry." He begged, while passing the back of his hands on her wet cheeks. "I can't bear the thought of seeing you cry in front of my sight, woman."

"Why does it matter to you, if I cry or not, was it forbidden in the contract?" She asked, slyly, while raising her swollen eyes into his, tears continuously rolling on her face, her trembling lips murmuring the words. "Call the agency, they … They'll send you two other women to marry."

"I don't want another woman; my mind is set on you." He replied, in an ordering voice.

"I'll find a way to reimburse every dime that I owe you, I swear." She added.

"How will you reimburse the cost of an eight thousands pounds wedding dress, by sleeping with more men that you could handle, Katerina?" Elijah asked, offensive.

"You're a bastard!" She managed to whispered, while closing her fists in anger. "Well, thank you for confirming that you really are your father's son, Duke Mikaelson." She replied, while raising her face streaming with tears.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…Forgive me…" He whispered, while shaking his head in disbelief of his own say to her, ricochet effect of his father presence. He lowered his forehead on hers, his hands letting go of her wrists, slowly rising on her bare, silky arms, on the roundness of her shoulders, before caressing their crucible, creating a range of intense shivers in her spine. "Stay, Katerina … Please stay…" He begged in a low murmur.

"Why?" She asked, while raising her trembling eyelashes in his stare.

"Because …" He whispered, while sliding the tip of his fingers on her trembling lips. "I want you to stay, isn't it enough of a reason, woman?" He added, while lowering his head near hers. "I want you to become my wife. And I don't need a piece of paper or my father to justify or deny what I already know."

"And what is it that you know?" She asked, breathless, with the sound of her rising heartbeats in her ears.

"That you're mine." He confessed, his fingers playing with a strand of Katerina's hair. "And you'll never again belong to another man than me."

"Well, you bought me after all. Isn't it the best way to own something or someone?" She murmured the words on her trembling lips, her stare lost in Elijah's, her chest rising under her jerky breaths.

"Perhaps, Katerina, or perhaps there is something more between us, that we are not ready to face." He replied, his lips slowly capturing hers under her sudden moan of surprise, while sliding his hands around her tiny waist to bring her in full contact with his muscular chest.

Elijah sensually raised both of his hands on the nakedness of her back, his right now firmly placed at the base of her neck, while deepening the intensity of their exchanged kiss with his tongue invading the warmth of her mouth, before joining hers in an intense twirling of intense sensual sensations.

Katerina felt her head spinning under his sensual assault, grasping for air under his demanding mouth, before slowly raising her hands on his jacket, while grabbing each side to hold her equilibrium on her shaking legs.

He detached his mouth of her trembling lips, under her panting breaths, before taking a step away from her standing position, while still keeping a firm grip on her with both of his hands placed on each side of her hips.

"I'm sorry; Katerina. The kiss was not planned or intended to prove my superiority over you. I did not lie when I've previously said to you that I wanted for us to be equal in this marriage." Elijah explained, while sighing loudly.

"What was it intended for then?" She relied, while catching her breath and raising her sight in his.

"It was meant to satisfy my sudden need to kiss your lips." He replied, smiling. "They are a real temptation when you look at them." He added, while passing the tip of his right thumb on her bottom lip, before slowly bending his head near hers, his right hand sliding on her neckline before grabbing the back of her neck to bring Katerina in a nearer proximity, his lips touching her right earlobe in an almost unperceived caress. "But they are even more of a temptation after having kissing them."

She closed her eyes, breathless, while almost losing her balance, completely lost in his seductive spell. If she was not more careful, this powerful man would control her in no time, and she could not allow this to happen. She had promised herself all of her life, that not a single man would ever have this power over her.

"Be careful." He murmured, while encircling her waist to help Katerina keep her balance. "You could easily fell." He added with his sight lost in hers. "See you may need me after all, as your husband, if only to catch you." He mocked.

"It's the shoes." She replied, lying through her teeth, and mostly disturbed by his arrogance, before stepping away from Elijah. "I just lost my balance for a quick moment."

"Of course, it is the shoes, Katerina." He responded, smirking. "I would not have the pretension of thinking that it could be my kisses that are making your head turn and lose your balance." He mocked some more, before turning on himself, his hands buried in his pants' pockets.

"I've kissed men before, Elijah." She replied, slyly, while raising her chin, and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You are far from being the first one."

"Yes, I believe that, Katerina, but none of them were me, were they?" He replied, while turning on himself to face her. "Nevertheless, I can assure you that this close proximity won't happen again in a near future. I've promised that I would give you time, and I'll keep my promise to you."

Katerina startled at his say, while blushing, before turning her head at the discreet coughing of Maria, who had just entered the parlor room.

"Yes, Maria?" Elijah asked, while raising his head toward the governess.

"I'm so sorry to disturb you, Mister Mikaelson, Madam, but I was wondering if I could be of assistance before leaving for your wedding?" Maria replied, while nodding her head in respect.

"Katerina had a … She had a moment, would you be so kind to accompany my fiancée to her suite, she'll need to powder her noise before the wedding?" Elijah replied, while keeping his sight drown in the one of his future wife. "Let us know when the limousine will arrive, would you?"

"Certainly, sir, I'll do as you wish." Maria replied, politely.

"Maybe I won't be present at this wedding, Duke Mikaelson?" Katerina whispered, for his ears only, while raising her chin in a confrontational gesture.

"We both know that you'll be present, and that you will marry me, Katerina." He murmured, confident, near her right ear, while bending his head near hers. "Don't forget that I can buy you a lot of expensive shoes." He smirked.

"You seem pretty sure of yourself, Duke, I guess only time will tell, then." She replied, a timid smile blessing her lips.

Katerina turned her head toward Maria, before raising her wedding dress skirts, and leaving the parlor room in the company of the governess.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What is your master plan now, Kol?" Rebekah asked, sighing, before arriving in front of the entrance door of the manor. "Neither of our demented brothers invited us to this double weddings' masquerade."

"I thought I was the demented one?" Kol smirked. "You've just crushed my pride, sister."

"As demented goes, you're in a league of your own, brother." She replied, slyly, with a sour expression.

"Aren't you the eternal charming one?" Kol replied, while strengthening his upper body and pulling on his blazer' sleeves. "You should be excited to meet you future sisters-in-law? I know I am." He added, mockingly.

"I could give a damn about those women that are probably as insipid and ignorant as you can find. I'm just wondering who they are, and from which royal families they came from?"

"Oh look at you, sister, looking as superficial as ever!" Kol mocked. "How do I look by the way?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes, while acting indifferent at the enormous ego expression of her brother.

"Aren't you finding this all secrecy weddings a bit odd? Plus, I could easily vision Elijah being married, being the pappy that he is and all, but Klaus?" She asked, dumbfounded. "I was not even aware that one single woman on this earth hasn't yet succumbed to his charm, or should I say compulsion?"

"We're about to find out, sister dearest." Kol replied, while leaving his finger on the doorbell.

The continuous and repetitive chime sound of the manor's entrance resounded in Maria's ears like a bad omen. .She finally reached the handle before opening the door on its visitors.

Kol and Rebekah stood silent in front of her sight for a few seconds, while swallowing a nervous lump in their throats.

"Maria, my favorite governess in the entire world, you are looking as lovely as ever, and as beautiful as a rose." Kol, the youngest of the Mikaelson brothers, snapped out of it, with a seductive smile blessing his lips and his right palm placed in front of his heart.

"Oh for God sake, Kol, just shut up!" Rebekah, the baby sister, exclaimed, while rolling her eyes, with her arms firmly crossed in front of her chest. "Good day Maria, are our beloved older brothers present in the manor at this moment?" She asked, without other formalities.

"Well, good day to you also, Miss Mikaelson, I was not aware of your upcoming visit." Maria responded, dumbfounded, while seeing Kol pass the threshold.

"You know us, Maria; we love to show ourselves for a surprise visit at every chance that we get." Kol responded, while blinking an eye, before presenting his right cheek to her. "You want to give me a kiss?"

"It's highly not appropriate, Mister Kol!" Maria exclaimed, outraged, while stepping back.

"What? We're family, come on, Maria, I know you want to do it." Kol mocked.

"Kol, take my Louis Vuitton suitcase, would you, instead of traumatizing the help?" Rebekah exclaimed, while stomping her feet, with a childish manner.

"Take care of it yourself, sister; I'm not your valet." Kol responded, before bending his head near Maria's to kiss her cheek. "So, where are the brides to be?"

"Apparently and most certainly, they both are where you won't be!" They heard an ordering and brittle voice said to them.

"Elijah." Rebekah exclaimed, while losing all of her colors. "It's nice to see you brother, you're looking as handsome as ever."

"Elijah! Brother it's been so long." Kol exclaimed, following his sister's words, with a fake smile blessing his lips.

Elijah sighed, loudly and in annoyance, while shaking his head in disbelief, before glancing at Maria.

"I wasn't sure what to do, Mister Mikaelson?" She said, while nervously rubbing her hands together. "I've mentioned to them that I was not aware of their upcoming visit and presences."

"That is because the children were not asked to be present." Elijah, replied, while walking to reach Kol's standing position in the entrance.

"The children … Who are you calling the children?" Kol asked, falsely outraged. "Oh come on brother, we have just learned about your and Klaus upcoming weddings, and you seriously thought that we would stay away?"

"Kol … Don't push it!" Rebekah warned him, while biting her bottom lip.

"Oh believe me; I've never thought that you would." Elijah rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, Maria, I got this under control." Elijah said, before grabbing Kol's right earlobe and pulling him forcefully toward the entrance door, under the surprised expression of Maria.

"Aye…" Kol yelled, while trying to free himself of Elijah's grip.

Elijah grabbed the left earlobe of his sister, before bringing them on the front porch.

"Aye … Aye… Aye…" Rebekah yelled, under the pain, while holding her ear.

"I've learned the Bahamas are a nice place for young folks as yourselves at this time of the year, why aren't you bringing your bottoms there, instead." Elijah suggested, before slapping the entrance door at their speechless faces. "Well, that was easier than I've anticipated that it would be." Elijah smirked at an immobile Maria. "My dear, for future reference, when you're taking care of children, it's all in the ear's grabbing." He informed her, before walking toward the corridor leading him to his office. "You're looking lovely by the way."

"Yes, sir, I'll try to keep that in mind. And thank you." She responded, while nodding her head and smiling, before raising her sight in the one of Klaus that was coming down the grand staircase.

"Was it my neurotic sister's voice and my psycho younger brother that I've heard?" Klaus asked her.

"Yes, Sir, but I believe they've been excused by your brother." Maria replied, smiling.

"Good, that is certainly music to my ears. Is Carolina waiting in one of the rooms downstairs?" Klaus asked the governess, while knotting his tie and reaching her position.

"Not exactly, Mister Klaus." She responded, while blushing and shaking her head.

"And what is "not exactly" intended for in your sentence, Maria?" He asked, while crossing his arms in front of his chest and narrowing his sight on her.

"I believe she is indisposed, Sir." Maria tried to formulate the news in the least painful way possible.

"I just saw my fiancée not even an hour ago, and she was in perfect health." He replied, while sighing loudly. "Spill it, Maria. I'm not really in a patience mode today."

"When are you really?" She mumbled, in a low whisper.

"What was that?" Klaus asked, amused, with a raised eyebrow.

"It was nothing." She responded, coughing, before adding. "Well, I believe you did saw Miss Carolina in a perfect health, Sir, but at that moment I also believe she hadn't seen the invitation card to your wedding, and I suppose neither her new given name." Maria confessed, while lowering her sight on the marble floor.

"Damn it!" Klaus yelled, while closing his fists in anger, before passing a nervous hand through his hair. "Where is she now?"

"Still in her suite, but she informed me to tell you and I quote: I won't marry that lout if he was the last man on earth." Maria quoted.

Klaus raised his demented sight in the one of the governess, before blessing his lips of a smirk.

"I believe my future wife just want to play hide and seek with me, Maria." He informed her. "And I will oblige to her wish." He added, before climbing the stairs.

"Bless the poor soul of your future wife, then." Maria murmured, while rolling her eyes.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Elijah, open this damn door!" Rebekah yelled all the air in her lungs, while knocking the panel of the entrance door with her closed fists.

"Elijah won't open the door, Bekha… Just try to be proactive for once in your pathetic life of a goddess." Kol rolled his eyes, while searching names in the addresses data file of his blackberry.

"Goddess you got that right!" She pointed a finger at him. "It took you long enough to acknowledge this fact." She added, smirking, while crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I am not exactly acknowledging that lie; it's only one of my brilliant tactics to make you close your big mouth, while I'm actually doing something worth of my time, as opposed to you." Kol informed her.

"What are you searching for?" She asked, while bending her head above his left shoulder.

"I'm searching for a way out of this impasse." Kol informed his sister. "Ah! I got it!" He exclaimed, smirking, while pushing the send button, before passing the cellular phone to his sister.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" She asked her brother. "Whom did you call?"

"Talk to Stefan Salvatore, who else but Klaus's best buddy and idiot vampire would know where the weddings are taking place?" Kol responded, with a proud smile.

"Are you out of your mind, Kol? I'm not talking to this low life jerk." She busted to Kol's face.

"Salvatore." A voice was heard into the speakers of the phone.

"Damn you!" Rebekah murmured to her conniving brother, before placing the phone near her ear.

"Stefan, it's Rebekah Mikaelson, can you talk?" She asked, while pulling her tongue at Kol.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Carolina, open the doors, please?" Klaus asked, through the locked doors of her suites. "We need to leave for the wedding soon." He added, while lowering his forehead on the wood, both of his hands placed on each side of the arch.

Carolina paced back and forth in the middle of her suite, with her closed fists firmly placed on each side of her hips, while glancing at the doors, and sighing loudly under her contained rage.

"иди к черту!" Go to hell! She yelled in Russian through the doors, while continuing her pacing, before crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"С тобой, всегда!" With you, always! Klaus responded in her birth language, a smirk blessing his lips. "If you are into names calling, this could get very sensual and erotic in no time, if you allow me to teach you how?" He tried to relax the atmosphere between them.

"Why don't you ask Caroline Forbes to play the game of naughty words with you instead?" She busted in rage, while gesturing with her arms. "I've read on the invitation card that she'll be your wife very soon."

"Who said anything about naughtiness, Love? You have a naughty mind as I can see." Klaus mocked. "I'm surprised, but highly thrilled that you would consider playing dirty game with me Carolina." He added. "The name change was for security purposes, I'm a powerful man, Love, and so is my brother. It's only put in place for your protection and the one of your sister, you shouldn't be mad about this, it means nothing to me." He explained, more seriously.

"Your dirty games will only happen in your dreams and over your dead body!" She replied, pissed. "I want to talk to my sister, tell her that I want out of this marriage deal, and that I want to go back to Russia."

"That will be happening over my dead body indeed!" Klaus responded, angrily, before strongly hitting the doors with both of his closed fists. "Open this damn doors now, or I swear I'll push them down in no time!" He warned her. "And this is not a request; it's a damn order!"

Carolina startled at his warning, while facing both doors, a hand raised around her neck, her chest rising up and down with each of her jerky breaths and heartbeats. This man was crazy enough to actually put his threat into execution… And yet, and again her best judgement, she was strangely excited by it.

"And then what, you'll put me on your shoulder while carrying me to the town hall, before forcing me to marry you?" She yelled back at him.

A strong kick placed in the middle of both doors rang its loud noise into the suite with two broken panels hanging on each side of the arch. Carolina's fiancé stood on the threshold with his mad glare fixated on her.

"It's exactly what I will do, sweetheart." He responded, while entering the suite.

"I swear that I'll tear this expensive wedding dress into pieces if you approach me." She warned him, while raising the hem of the skirts in her hand, and slowly pulling on the silk fabric.

Klaus lower his head, before bursting into loud laughter.

"That would actually be a shame, love. I thought it would be my forbidden pleasure to actually tear the fabric of your wedding dress, before ripping every other pieces of clothing that you're wearing, until seeing your shivering naked body in front of my sight on our wedding night." He replied, with a twisted smile blessing his lips.

Carolina blushed, while taking a few steps away from him, before placing herself in safety behind one of the armchairs.

"It's a very expensive dress." Carolina repeated while pulling a little bit more on the fabric.

"I don't care about money, I have more than I could even spend, and I don't care about the dress. You'll marry me in your underwear if necessary." Klaus mocked. "Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I would prefer to marry you fully naked."

"Go undress Caroline Forbes; I'm sure she'll be willing to play your twisted, sick seduction games." She replied, slyly.

"Considering that she is you, I can hardly wait then. And is it jealousy I hear in your voice?" He said, perniciously. "Now tell me, since you've met me, did you ever have naughty thoughts about us, Carolina?" He asked, a raised eyebrow, while slowly approaching his prey.

"What?" She asked, while stepping away from the armchair. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know… Something like thinking about both of our naked bodies, lying in the same bed?" He asked her.

"You're sick!" She replied, while placing herself behind the mahogany wood table.

"How can it be sick to passionately desire my future wife, love?" He asked her, before throwing one of the chairs on the suite carpet, to free his path, while making her startled with fear. "Longing for the moment I'll hear you scream under my erotic assault."

"I want more that you can offer me, Klaus." She confessed, while raising her teary eyes in his.

"What do you want, Love? Tell me, or let me guess: A fairy tale wedding with all family and friends reunited, a nine to five job / reliable working man, a suburb house with a white picket fence, two or three children and a dog?" Klaus enumerated, before crossing his arms in front of his chest, while continuing to walk around the table. "Am I near the truth?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"That is not or your business." She replied, slyly, to him, while wrapping her arms around her chest.

"You're lying to me and to yourself, because that is not what you want." He reaffirmed, before shaking his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" She replied, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat and shrugging her shoulders.

"You and I, we are the same: we're strong, fearless, independent, and passionate. We won't take no for an answer, and we consummate ourselves with our twisted mind and furious anger." Klaus explained.

"Oh, my God, you're demented! I don't know what my sister thought while making this crazy deal with the agency, but you can't force me to marry you against my will." She replied, while passing a hand through her tangled hair, before standing immobile in the middle of the suite.

"Don't be scare, Carolina. I won't hurt you." Klaus said, while finally reaching her standing position, before grabbing her left wrist and pulling her close to his chest. He suddenly took a strand of her silky blond hair, before enrolling it on one of his fingers. "Who said anything about forcing you, love?" He murmured, smirking, while lowering his head near hers.

Carolina closed her eyes, while feeling the softness of his breath caressing her right cheek.

"Klaus, please…" She begged, while raising her hands to grab each side of his jacket, suddenly lightheaded under a dizzy spell.

"I won't force you, Love. You already have in the deepness of your soul the most twisted desire to be link to me, because I'm able to bring you to life in a snap of a finger, and that intrigues you more than anything. That is what you're longing for… You're longing to become passionate in my arms." He murmured, while kissing her jaw line. "Kiss me." He ordered.

"No, I don't want to kiss you." She replied, while lying through her teeth, before feeling an intense desire awakening her centered core.

"Yes" He contradicted, while nibbling on her bottom lips, one of his arms encircling her waist, with his other placed at the base of her neck to hold her head nearer to his.

"I won't marry you." She stubbornly said, her trembling lips murmuring the words on Klaus's. "You can seduce me as much as you want, the answer will still be no!"

"Of course you won't." Klaus mocked, while sliding the tip of his tongue on the length of her lips, before slowly kissing her lips. "Right, until you will!" He added, while detaching his lips, before surprising Carolina by raising her body on his right shoulders under her screams of protestation.

"Let me down!" She yelled, while hitting her closed fists on his back. "You tricked me, bastard!"

"Where are you shoes?" He asked, while scattering her suite.

"I swear to you, I'll kill you with my bare hands the minute my feet will touch the ground." She yelled some more.

"About your feet, if I only could find your shoes it would help us leave earlier rather than later, sweetheart." He added, while entering the walk-in closet, with his right hand firmly placed on her bottom, to keep her body balanced on his shoulder. "I got them!" He exclaimed, joyfully, before grabbing the pair. "We're ready to go get married." He added, while heading his walk toward the corridor, before descending the stairs.

"I asked you to let me go!" Carolina yelled one more time. "I swear to you, you'll pay for this, Klaus!"

"I'm actually looking forward to it." Klaus mocked her. "Maria, is the limousine parked up front?" Klaus asked the immobile and speechless governess who kept staring at them.

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked, with a hand placed over her chest.

"The limousine, Maria, is it upfront?" Klaus repeated.

"Yes, I believe the limousine arrived, Mister Klaus." Maria responded, politely, while nodding her head. "Let me help you and Miss Carolina by opening the door for you." Maria mumbled the words, nervously before turning the handle, and watching Duke Klaus Mikaelson walk toward the chauffeur of the luxurious car, while carrying his future wife on his shoulder.

"Oh my …" She whispered to herself, breathless, while closing the door on its arch. "If only a man would carry me this way, I would certainly be in need of an icy, cold shower afterward!"


	8. For our marriage(s) - Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia** _

_**(…)** _

" _I'm actually looking forward to it." Klaus mocked her. "Maria, is the limousine parked up front?" Klaus asked the immobile and speechless governess who kept staring at them._

" _I'm sorry, what?" She asked, with a hand placed over her chest._

" _The limousine, Maria, is it upfront?" Klaus repeated._

" _Yes, I believe the limousine arrived, Mister Klaus." Maria responded, politely, while nodding her head. "Let me help you and Miss Carolina by opening the door for you." Maria mumbled the words, nervously before turning the handle, and watching_ _ **Duke Klaus Mikaelson**_ _walk toward to the chauffeur of the luxurious car, while carrying his future wife on his shoulder._

" _Oh my …" She whispered to herself, breathless, while closing the door on its arch. "If only a man would carry me this way, I would certainly be in need of an icy, cold shower afterward!"_

* * *

_Rebekah entered the town hall while pushing the revolving doors and keeping a rapid walking pace in hope of having a head start over her annoying brother. Kol was paying the cab driver when she had rushed inside the building. No time for the elevator, she had vampire speed her way up several floors, before finally reaching the fifth and losing all her colors while standing motionless in front of the said brother who stood with his left side body casually leaning on the corridor wall, his arms crossed over his chest, with a smile twisting the corners of his lips._

" _You could have had the decency to wait for me, sister?" Kol mocked; proud of the trick he had just pulled on her. "And what is this breathing sound you're making with your mouth?" He asked, deviously. "Are you suddenly tired of climbing all those stairs?"_

" _It's not a breathing sound, Kol." She replied, while rolling her eyes. "It's the "I want to get rid of my brother" sound!" She added, while strolling by his side, her chin up in the air, before scattering both sides of the corridor in search of the town hall room where the weddings were supposed to take place. "Did you see Stefan or find out where the weddings are held?"_

" _I did not even look for either one." Kol shrugged._

" _What is wrong with you?" She exclaimed, while turning her head to glare at him._

" _I figured that sooner or later we will meet those lovely ladies that our older brothers will marry. I think it's only fair to give them a head start of happiness before we crash everything." He replied, smiling, before adding. "And as for searching for your past lover, let just say that the last time I've encountered Stefan's charming brother, I was practicing my chance of entering the National American Baseball League."_

" _You got to be kidding me?" Rebekah replied. "What did you do?"_

" _Damon does this thing with his eyebrows that is unfortunately triggering my need to hit something." Kol explained, grinning._

" _It's not like you don't have the same annoying eyebrows." Rebekah replied, while grimacing._

" _You had to bring this low life jerk with you, Rebekah?" Stefan asked, while walking from the far end of the corridor toward their positions._

_Rebekah turned on herself, before facing Stefan Salvatore, who reached her standing position, dressed in a perfect tailored, dark blue, three pieces man suit_

" _Stefan" She greeted, blushing, before regaining control by raising her chin and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "It's been a long time."_

" _It has, Rebekah." Stefan replied, before bending his head near hers and kissing her left cheek. "But it was not nearly long enough to my taste." He added in a murmur near her right earlobe, before raising his sigh back into hers, while making her lose her smile._

" _What on earth did you ever find remotely interesting in this moron, sister?" Kol asked, both of his hands firmly placed on each side of his waist._

" _I was asking myself the same question as for you." Stefan smirked through his remark._

" _Is this humor I hear, Salvatore?" Kol mocked. "Don't tell me, you're in remission of your ripper's phase. I'm so proud of you. You know what? We should go celebrate at a bar with a good bottle of whisky, and fresh waitresses for you to suck all the blood out of their system, what do you say, mate?"_

" _Right Kol… And you must be in your own remission from your demented, psycho, look at me I'm the most handsome in the mirror, killer phase." Stefan added, perniciously._

_Kol lost his smile while taking a step forward to reach Stefan's standing position, closed fists placed on each side of his body, before being retained by Rebekah's right hand on his arm._

" _Can this be enough, you two?" Rebekah sighed, while rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "Let's shorten this encounter should we? Where are my brothers and their supposed soon to be wives?" She asked Stefan._

" _We've been played for fools!" Stefan replied, smiling, while shrugging his shoulders, before crossing his hands in front of his chest. "In America we say, we've been punk'ed."_

" _What do you mean?" Both siblings said, in perfect synchronization._

" _They've changed the location of the ceremonies at the last minutes." Stefan shrugged more._

" _Did you compel your informant to know where it was held now?" Rebekah asked, while shaking her head in disbelief._

" _Yes, Rebekah, but it seems all the employees of the town hall were already previously compelled." Stefan replied, out of excuses._

" _Elijah!" Both siblings named, while rolling their eyes._

" _You know, sister, our older brother is getting wiser in his old age." Kol mocked, while crossing his arms in front of his chest. "He finally knows us better than ourselves."_

" _Therefore, and because of this news, I have no reason to stay here in your charming companies." Stefan said, while strolling beside them._

" _Stefan, can you wait, please?" Rebekah called him._

" _Rebekah, you'll meet your new sisters' in law in no time, don't make this encounter more painful than it is already." He told her, while pushing the elevator button._

" _Can you at least tell us from which royal families those two women are coming from?" She asked him._

" _Well, I can tell you that they are sisters, and unfortunately for you, not from any of the royal families." Stefan answered, while retaining his sudden need to burst into laughter….If only Rebekah knew the truth._

" _Oh come on Salvatore, you must know something of interest to us? You always know **things** , you and my brother Klaus are like best buddies. If not for his love of women, you two would probably be married by now." Kol mocked even more._

" _Oh gross, Kol!" Bekah exclaimed, while hitting his chest with her right hand._

_Stefan entered the elevator, before raising his sight in the ones of the siblings._

" _Sure, they are from Russia. I'll let you do the math now." Stefan said, smirking, with the doors closing on him._

" _Russia?" Kol and Rebekah exclaimed, dumbfounded, while staring at each other._

* * *

" _How is it that my sister and your brother are not with us?" Katerina asked Elijah, surprised._

" _We had always traveled at different time and with different transportation, mainly for security purposes, Katerina." Elijah explained to her, while pushing a button to raise a black glass between the chauffeur and the back seats, creating a zone of intimacy between the two of them._

_They had left the mansion a few minutes earlier, "They" being her future husband:_ _**Duke Elijah Mikaelson** _ _, and herself, and_ _**they** _ _were heading now in direction of the town hall, while comfortably sitting in the back of a luxurious limousine._

" _You're shivering." Katerina heard her fiance whispered, while feeling the tip of his fingers slid on her left forearm. "You're cold, aren't you?"_

_Katerina wrapped herself in her pashmina scarf, while nodding her head discreetly._

" _You should have put a winter coat over your wedding dress before leaving the manor." Elijah added, while opening the front button, before undressing himself of his blazer._

" _It would have pleated the beautiful fabric." Katerina replied, while shrugging her shoulders. "And I'm used to the cold weather, Russia is way worse than England."_

" _There…" Elijah said, while wrapping her shoulders with his blazer. "You'll be warm in no time with this on your shoulders." He added, while rubbing her arms with his strong manly hands, creating a range of warm shivers in all her body._

" _Thank you." She nodded, while blushing, and suddenly smelling his musk scent all around her. "You know … I still did not decided if I would marry you or not?" Katerina added, while crossing her arms in front of her chest, raising her chin and drowning her sight into the side window and the grey sky of London._

" _Look in the left pocket of my jacket, could you?" He murmured, while passing the back of his right hand on her left cheek, in an almost unperceived caress. "Maybe it will change your mind, and show you how committed I can be, beautiful Katerina."_

_She glared at him rapidly, while slowly sliding her hand in his jacket's pocket, before pulling a square velvety box from its inside._

" _Open it." He suggested to her._

_She opened the small cover, before raising her right hand in front of her opened mouth, forbidding herself to scream. A yellow – enormous - square diamond on a white gold band was presenting itself in front of her eyes._

" _Is it real?" She mumbled, in shock, while taking the ring in her shaking hand, before bringing the diamond near her mouth and front teeth to bite into it._

" _Katerina, for God sake…Stop it!" Elijah exclaimed, before grabbing the ring away from her hand and mouth. "You'll break a tooth if you take a bite on it." He added, smirking. "Of course it's real, woman, I would never allow_ _ **my wife**_ _to wear an imitation."_

" _I'm not used to see a real diamond so close. I'm sorry…" She shrugged, ashamed, while turning her head back to the side window._

" _No, it's me who should be sorry." He replied, while grabbing her chin to make her face him. "I … I always forget how_ _ **real**_ _you can be. There's nothing fake about you, Katerina."_

" _You mean that the wife that you bought for yourself is certainly not as bright as you thought she would be for the good money you've paid for?" She replied, while keeping her sight in his._

" _No, Katerina … I meant that you're genuine, honest and upfront about everything" He responded, before caressing her left cheek. "It's qualities that can't be bought, even with all the money in the world, but they can be highly appreciated. And those qualities are not the ones that I saw in people oftentimes in my own life." He added, while grabbing her left hand and slowly sliding the engagement ring on her finger, before addressing a timid smile to her._

" _It's mine?" She exclaimed, joyfully, like a little girl in front of a Christmas tree, with her hand placed in front of her sight. "I've never received a gift so precious in all my life."_

" _Well it's entirely yours, as you'll be mine." He replied._

_Katerina suddenly lost her smile. He owned her, like a precious jewel that you keep in a box, and take time to expose, from time to time, at the eyes of the world. She needed to remind herself of that fact as oftentimes as possible._

" _Katerina… I meant: as you'll be mine to cherish." He added, in a murmur, while noticing her discomfort._

_She sighed loudly, before turning her head toward her side window._

" _Why are we stopping here?" She suddenly inquired in shock, while pointing a finger toward the window. "It's an orthodox church, Elijah." She lashed out, while closing her fists in anger. "You promised me that the ceremony would be held at the town hall, this is not the town hall."_

" _I needed to change the location of the ceremonies at the last given moment." He replied to her, while grabbing the door handle with his left hand. "Is there a problem, Katerina?"_

" _Yes, there's a problem, Elijah. This is the house of God … I don't want God to witness what I did… To … I mean I don't want to be married to you religiously." Katerina busted, while retaining her anger._

" _You won't!" He replied, impatient. "I've rented a private room in the church, where a representative of the town hall will be present to fill the papers work for both marriages, only a hand full of witnesses will be present with a few of my business acquaintances."_

_Katerina crossed her arms in front of her chest, while pouting._

" _Katerina, you really think that God is not watching you link your life to mine at this present moment? Because being on papers or in front of a priest it doesn't change anything, and it has the same value to me." Elijah responded._

" _It doesn't have the same value to me. I've asked God for forgiveness. A business contract is certainly not an act of love in front of his sight, Elijah." Katerina responded, while biting her bottom lip._

" _I don't know what to answer to that." Elijah replied, while shaking his head. "Because you're right in your own way, except that I can assure you that no priest will marry us inside of these church's walls, Katerina." He added, before drowning his sight in hers. "Shall we go now?"_

" _You don't believe in God?" She asked, curious of her future husband's answer._

_Elijah froze his movements, while closing his eyes and sighing loudly._

" _I believe that we are the masters of our own destiny, and that monsters are hiding in each one of us, Katerina. But, there is also hope, forgiveness, kindness, and respect." He answered her, before seeing the door being opened in front of his sight by the chauffeur of the limousine. "Come, we need to get married." He invited her, while changing the subject, a smile blessing his lips, before handing his right hand to her._

_Katerina handed her trembling left hand to him, before getting out of the limousine._

* * *

_Carolina glared rapidly toward Klaus, from the corner of her eyes. He had his head turned to his side window. She tried to slowly reach the handle of the passenger door. The limousine had stopped at a crossroad, for a traffic red light, and even if she felt ridiculous at the idea of running on the London sidewalks while holding the skirts of her wedding dress in her hands, it would at least be more rewarding than letting this man dictate her life._

_It was her day of luck, the door seemed unlock at the present moment, an oversight from the chauffeur, perhaps? Now the tricky part would be to jump out of this luxurious car, with all those stupid skirts rolled around her legs and to run with these high heels shoes. If only she would have been dressed in a pair of jeans and boots she would have been long gone by now. One easy fix was to get rid of those shoes and to escape without them, which she smiled while slowly dropping them under her dress. She closed her eyes, while taking a deep breath into her lungs, before carefully pushing down the handle of the door._

_She suddenly startled, both of her wrists being captured by Klaus's hands, before being pulled near his chest, with one of his arms encircling her waist, while keeping Carolina in this forced embrace._

" _Going somewhere, love?" He asked her, with a smirk and raised eyebrow._

" _Let go of my wrists, Klaus!" She ordered, while squirming at his side, before trying to liberate her hands and arms from his strong grip on her._

" _And what will you do sweetheart?" He mocked. "Tear your dress into pieces for my eyes only?" He asked, while trying to hold her immobile in his arms. "Indulge my naughty mind, would you, Carolina; give me the spectacle of watching you undress in front of my sight, and in a back of a limousine, nonetheless."_

" _Certainly, I'll do that when I'll be the spectator to watch you rot in hell!" She replied, while kicking her feet in all direction. "Let me go!"_

" _Now, do you know how aroused I am when you fight me this way? Do you do that on purpose, love?" He asked her, while pulling on the tie around his neck, before rolling the long piece of fabric around her wrists to tie her up, turning and pushing her body with her chest facing the leather cushions of the back seat, in a lying position, with his hands now firmly placed on her bottom. "I would have preferred to tie you to the bed, but I'll keep that in mind for later." Klaus murmured near her left ear, his head bent over hers, with a smirk blessing his lips._

_Carolina closed her eyes, while taking deep breaths into her lungs to calm herself down, the right side of her face leaning on the leather seat._

" _What, you don't have anything else to say? So now, you will give me the silence treatment?" Klaus mocked, while caressing the curves of her hips over the fabric of her wedding dress._

" _That is exactly what you deserve for treating me this way." She replied, slyly. "And by the way, Einstein, if you keep me in this lying position, the wedding dress will have several pleats."_

" _I think you got everything in reverse, in this pretty head of yours, sweetheart." Klaus responded, while turning Carolina's body, making her now lye on her back, with her legs placed on his lap. "I'm the perfect gentleman; offering you a life of luxury on a silver platter, and yet ….it's you who behave like a spoil brat while trying to escape the arms of your adorable future husband." He pouted, mockingly._

" _It won't work between us, Klaus." She mumbled angrily between her teeth. "I'll make your life miserable at all the chances that I will get." She added, pouting. "Is this the life that you want with your new wife?"_

" _That is exactly the life that I want; I've been bored out of my mind with my previous … let me call them:_ _ **girlfriends…**_ _That, suddenly, you are a breath of fresh air in my London grey sky, and what I desire the most now." He smirked, while making Carolina rolled her eyes. "So can you promise me that you'll keep this fire coming between us?" He mocked. "Because that would be my biggest joy to see you fight me this way all the time, I can only imagine all the ways we'll find to make up afterward." He added, while grabbing her left ankle in his hands, and slowly caressing her calve under the silk fabric._

" _Don't do that with my leg…I mean don't touch it this way." She begged, under a range of jerky breaths…Devil man that he was!_

" _Tell me why not, Carolina? You like to feel my hands on your body." Klaus mentioned to her with his fiery sight lost in hers. "And don't say the contrary, I won't believe you."_

" _It's disturbing… I feel like you're not the one who should touch me this way." She shrugged._

_Klaus lowered his head, before bursting into laughter._

" _Where are your shoes?" He asked._

_She shrugged her shoulders before nodding her head toward the shoes that were earlier dropped on the luxurious carpet of the limousine._

" _There's something with you and your hate of shoes, Love, you want to share it with you future hubby?" Klaus smiled._

" _I love to not have to stress for things like stupid shoes, and I love the freedom that it gives me to walk bare feet." Caroline explained, while raising her sight in his._

" _Then, we have the love of freedom in common." Klaus replied, more seriously, while surprising Carolina by suddenly raising her upper body in a sitting position by his side, before pulling the tie that was keeping her wrists attached together. "And I'll need my tie back around my neck." He whispered, while sliding the narrowed silk fabric around the collar of his man shirt. "You want to do the knot for me, love?" He asked with a raised eyebrow._

_Carolina sighed loudly, before grabbing both sides of the tie and proceeding to his request._

" _You're certainly an obedient future wife to be and you smell nice." Klaus complimented, while lowering his head near the left side of her neck, a seductive smile blessing his lips._

" _Don't move your head or I won't be able to do a perfect job." She scolded. "As for the scent, it's you who offered me the bottle." She shrugged._

" _I'm surprised that you've accepted a gift from me?" Klaus smirked._

" _There! Your tie is presentable." She acknowledged, while lowering her hands. "It was spraying a little bit of the scent on me or smelling like old cheese." She mocked._

_Klaus laughed, before grabbing her chin and very unexpectedly kissing Caroline on the lips, while softly nibbling on her bottom lip._

" _Why did you do that?" Carolina asked, breathless, the minute he let go of his grip on her._

" _I wanted to take you off guard." Klaus responded. "Look at your left hand, Love."_

_Carolina lowered her sight on her hand, before seeing a classic, square diamond sparkled on her finger._

" _A fiancee deserve a ring." Klaus explained._

" _I'm not materialistic." She shrugged._

" _Perhaps, but your eyes sparkled a little when you saw the ring." Klaus smirked, before looking at his side window. "We're here…Time to get married, sweetheart!"_

* * *

_Elijah climbed the stairs, dressed in a black, P.J. silk bottom, and a matching silk dressing gown, while holding in his right hand one of his favorite books that he just had picked up in his study room. He raised his sigh while holding his walking pace on a stair and addressing a smile at Maria, which was standing in the upper landing of the staircase, in front of his sight._

" _If you are not in need of further services, I was thinking of call it quit for the night, and retiring in my private quarters, Mister Mikaelson." She politely addressed._

" _Certainly, Maria, I wish you a good night." He replied, with a warm smile. "And mostly, thank you for your presence today, it meant a lot to me and my brother…More than you know, actually."_

" _They were lovely ceremonies, I wish you and you wife, many years of happiness." She added, while nodding her head in respect._

" _Thank you, Maria; I take that to heart coming from you." He replied, with a veil of sadness blurring his sight._

_Maria descended the stairs, while passing by his side, before holding her own pace._

" _Mister Mikaelson, it's not of my business, really … But…" She started, shyly. "Miss Katerina is … I believe that she is more sensible than what her rough exterior is letting us to believe. Gentleness is maybe a good way to start a marriage."_

" _I take your implied demand into consideration, Maria." Elijah smirked, with a raised eyebrow. "I don't intend to rush my wife into anything that could hurt her."_

" _It was really not of my business to suggest…" Maria replied, while blushing._

" _Actually, it was, Maria… It was because you care for her wealth fare and happiness." Elijah replied, while nodding his head, and climbing the last stairs._

* * *

_Katerina brushed her long curls, while sitting in front of the dressing table and mirror placed in her new luxurious bathroom. Elijah's suite was huge, and decorated with exquisite taste. She dropped the brush on the marble top, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat, before closing her eyes under a dizzy spell. Who would have thought, that she,_ _**Katerina Petrova** _ _, would have one day married a rich man, and nonetheless a Duke? Certainly not her!_

_Both of the ceremonies had been discreet and expeditious; the two couples had exchanged their vows in a small annex chapel of the Orthodox Church, in front of a table dressed with a red tablecloth and white runner, with a hand full of witnesses present, which included Maria, the governess, who had offered two beautiful bride bouquets to both Katerina and Carolina._

_A representative of the town hall had politely asked her to sign different papers, as for the legalization of the marriage and the name change. And as of now and in the eyes of the England law, she was:_ _**Mrs. Katherine Pierce Mikaelson.** _

_She had searched for the finale approval in the deepness of her sister's soul, while discreetly turning her head to take a last glance into her veiled eyes, and it was with a discreet nod of the head and a timid smile that Carolina had finally approved the finale decision that would link them to both men standing by their sides._

_Elijah had slowly kissed her cheek when they had been announced husband and wife, and it is in a blurry mind that she had politely shook the hands of a few business acquaintances that had presented their good wishes to the couples._

_They had, afterward drove in the same limousine toward an elegant restaurant, where a nine services dinner had been served to the newlyweds and their invitees. Katerina had felt the curious look of several spouses directed at her and her sister. She had kept a polite smile on her lips, while not knowing what to say or not, and pecked her plate with her fork the all duration of the meal. And it is with relief that they had taken the limousine back to the mansion._

_She suddenly reopened her eyes, while hearing the discreet noise of the suite door being closed on its arch. She rose on her trembling legs, while knotting with her shaking hands the belt of the dressing gown, before slowly reaching the bathroom door, and gently turning the handle to peek at her future husband._

_He threw a book on the bed, before undressing himself of his own dressing gown, while dropping the fabric on an armchair, while turning his half naked body to face the bed, wearing only a PJ bottom on his pelvic bones and sensual "V" line._

_Katerina hold her breath, while biting her bottom lip. Truth be told, her new husband was a fine specimen of a man to watch._

" _Are you going to spy on me behind the bathroom door all night, or will you join me to bed eventually, Katerina?" Elijah asked, smirking._

_She startled, while blushing, before slowly opening the door on its arch and taking her first steps into the bedroom._

" _I was not spying." She replied, while shrugging her shoulders. "I wanted to give you your privacy that is all."_

" _Of course, you weren't." Elijah mocked, while grabbing the corner of the bedspread to open the bed on his side. "Does it bother you if I read before sleeping?"_

_**No, what is bothering me is that you're talking to me like we've been married for ten years, and that you couldn't care less about my presence,** _ _thought Katerina, on the edge of a nervous breakdown._

" _No it doesn't, you do as you please." She responded, while standing on the other side of the huge bed._

" _What is this?" Elijah asked, dumbfounded, his right hand pointing toward the bed. "Is this the Berlin wall?" He added, before standing chest naked in front of his bed side, with both of his hands placed on each side of his waist, while looking at the row of numerous cushions placed as a barrier in the middle of the gigantic bed._

" _I thought … I mean …That It would be easier for us to handle the… the wedding night this way." Katerina shrugged her shoulders, before nervously rubbing her hands together, while raising her sight on his muscular bare chest. "You'll sleep on your side, and I'll sleep on mine."_

" _You thought it would be easier to sleep with me by creating a wall of cushions in the middle of our bed?" Elijah asked, while raising the corners of his lips into a smile._

" _Just stop this thing you're always doing with your face, it is driving me crazy!" She replied, while pointing a finger in his direction._

" _I'm sorry, what?" Elijah asked, surprised, while passing his right hand over his face by mechanism._

" _This annoying grin that you are wearing on your lips, every time you're mocking what I'm doing or saying." She replied. "It's annoying… I feel like I'm a little girl who's being reprimanded by her father."_

_Elijah lowered his head, before bursting into laughter._

" _Oh, Katerina, Katerina, Katerina…" He repeated, while shaking his head in disbelief and amusement. "My bad, accept my deepest apology, you're a breath of fresh air in my life, but you could never be a mockery to me, don't mix the two, please." He explained. "And as for being reprimanded by me, just ask and I will oblige. I have certain Technics that you would probably enjoy, and not one of those would make you think of me as your father." He added, in a double sense meaning while making her blush._

" _I didn't mean much by it. You're different when you smile; you don't smile often, most of the time you have your "don't bother me" serious face." She explained._

" _I have my "don't bother me" serious face?" Elijah repeated, speechless. "Well, I'll try to retain myself of showing that particular face to you in the future." He shrugged, while not knowing what to add to her logic, before pointing the bed. "But, as for this goes, my sweet wife, just know that I've slept oftentimes alone in this bed in the past, I also had my share of women sharing it with me as companionship, and as of now, it will be your rightful place as_ _ **my wife**_ _, but I've never slept with an entire factory of cushions in the middle of my bed, and I'm not about to start." He informed her, while grabbing each one before throwing them on the bedroom floor. "There, woman, no more cushions barrier placed on_ _ **our bed**_ _and_ _ **in your head**_ _." He added, while shaking his head, before slowly contouring the bed to reach her standing position, his stare narrowed on her._

" _What do you mean, in my head?" She shrugged, while crossing her arms in front of her chest as a protection mechanism._

_Elijah grabbed Katerina's chin, before raising her trembling lashes in his stare._

" _You're creating in your head this invisible barrier between us, as a protection against me. Don't think I'm not aware of what you're feeling." He murmured, before playing with the silk belt of her dressing gown. "Is it working, Katerina? Are you able to put me at arm length in your private thoughts?"_

" _I don't know what you're talking about,_ _ **Duke**_ _?" She replied, with a raised eyebrow. "I just thought that it would be polite of me to grant you the privacy of your wedding night in company of your new wife_ _ **Katherine Pierce Mikaelson**_ _on the other side of the cushion barrier. And in the meantime, I,_ _ **Katerina Petrova**_ _, would be sleeping, quietly and peacefully on my side" She added, tit for tat._

" _It's one – zero for you, my dear." He murmured, smirking and highly amused, with his soft breath caressing her earlobe. "Then, I can only assume that_ _ **Katerina Petrova**_ _will become my mistress one day, soon? After all she'll be in the same bed with me and my wife."_

" _It's highly inappropriate, Duke Mikaealson, what would your wife think about your behavior of adultery?" She replied, mockingly, her heartbeats rising in her chest._

" _She'll understand." He whispered, while pulling on her silk belt before slowly opening both fabric panels of the dressing gown. "My new wife is quite opened to new possibilities in her life."_

" _Is she?" Katerina replied, while drowning her sight in Elijah's, a range of shivers hitting her entire body. "I thought we wouldn't…" She added, short of breaths, while feeling the fabric of her dressing gown slide on her bare arms, soon lying in a silk pile on the floor._

" _We won't, I am a man of my words." Elijah whispered, while raising his opened palms on the shivering skin of her arms. "But, I've never said that I wouldn't look at the menu that is offered to my eyes, did I?" He mocked, while sliding a strand of her hair behind her left ear. "I wanted to see how beautiful you look in the night gown I offered you as a wedding gift."_

" _And…Do you approve?" Katerina murmured. "Are you happy with the merchandise that you have paid good money for?"_

" _You're a beautiful woman, Katerina, you don't need reassurance." Elijah replied, while sliding his fiery sight on the lace fabric of the nightgown that left so little to his imagination. "But, stop talking about the fact that I've bought you, or we won't be able to move forward in our relationship." He added, while losing his smile all of a sudden, leaving her breathless in front of her side of the bed, while watching him walk back to his own, before seeing him lye under the sheet a second later, his opened book placed in his hands and on his lap._

_Katerina managed to have her shaking legs carry her to the bed, before taking a sitting position under the sheet and blanket, her upper body straight as an "I" with a couple of pillows placed behind her back, her hands joined on her lap._

_Elijah glanced from the corners of his eyes at his wife, before lowering his book away from his sight._

" _Katerina, I won't jump your bones if it is what you are worrying about." He promised her. "You can relax now, you had a long day."_

_She turned her head to look at him in surprise._

" _It's actually the contrary aspect that I am worrying about." She shrugged her shoulders, while staring at her hands._

" _You care to explain it to me?" Elijah asked, softly._

" _I don't understand why you would buy a wife…" She started, before seeing his sight narrowed on her. "I meant….You would have a written agreement with a woman, and wouldn't take the_ _ **dessert**_ _that comes with it? I've never experimented this with a man before, usually, they will take the_ _ **dessert**_ _and they will not even think about it the next morning."_

" _Just to fulfill my curiosity, the dessert part in this context needs to be understood as the sexual part of our marriage?" Elijah asked, smirking._

" _Yes." Katerina sighed._

" _Do you want to have sex with me, Katerina? Are you attracted to me in a way that your life would be richer if you would have a sexual intercourse with me?" He asked, before drowning his sight in hers, and making her blush._

" _It's beside the point, Elijah; it's intended this way by the agency." Katerina replied, blushing. "I feel like I did something wrong, like I do not meet my share of the contract?"_

" _You just answered your own question without knowing it. One day you'll know the difference." Elijah replied, while sighing and dropping his book on the nightstand. "I think it's late, it was a long day, and we should sleep." He added, in an ordering voice, while turning the light off._

_Katerina stood in her sitting position, breathless and motionless for a couple of seconds, before lying on her left side of the bed, her back turned to his sight, with her right hand under the pillow._

" _Elijah?" She called, a few minutes later._

" _Yes Katerina?" He replied._

" _I'm not used to sleep on the left side of the bed … I'm terribly sorry…I've always slept on the right side since I was a little girl." She explained, while biting her bottom lip, and turning her head to take a glance at him. "But, I will try to get used to it, if you can't sleep on this side either?"_

_Elijah turned his head to stare into her eyes in the penumbra of the bedroom._

" _It makes no difference to me." He smiled. "Come."_

" _Thank you." She replied, smiling, while pushing the sheet and blanket at her feet._

" _Where are you going?" Elijah asked, while grabbing her left wrist._

" _I will walk to the right side?" She responded dumbfounded by his question._

" _Roll over me it will be easier." He suggested, taking her by surprise while sliding his right arm around her tiny waist, before bringing her body in top of his._

_Katerina face came in almost contact with his, her eyes drown into Elijah's sight, their breaths mixing in a regular tempo, her hands and upper arms resting on his bare chest to keep her balance, while feeling the softness of his manly and muscular skin under each tip of her fingers, with hundreds of electrifying shivers hitting her spine and lower body parts all at once._

" _You smell good." Elijah whispered, while lowering his hands on her lower back, before against his own good judgement raising the fabric of her night gown on her hips to slowly caress the roundness of her rear, over her tiny lace panties. "You need to go to your side of the bed, now…Or I won't respond to anything." He warned her, while closing his eyes, and slowly kissing her forehead._

_She stood immobile while suddenly feeling against her pelvic parts, the obvious proof of his sexual desire for her, with his hard bulge pushing its way between her legs under the barrier of their clothes._

_She rolled on the right side of the bed, under her jerky breaths and rising heartbeats, before raising the sheet over her shoulders._

" _Good night, Katerina." He wished her._

" _Good night." She replied, while closing her eyes and praying the sandman that he would make her fall asleep as quickly as possible._

* * *

_Carolina entered her husband suite reluctantly, before pushing the door on its arch and kicking her high heels shoes in opposite corners of the room, while suddenly sighing with relief. She was finally released of this hold on her feet, and also relieved of finally being done with this wedding day, though the worst was yet to come._

_She held her walking pace in the middle of Klaus's bedroom suite, while closing her eyes, and sighing loudly, both of her hands firmly placed on each side of her hips. She had been ready to call it quit for good in the small chapel, where the ceremony had been held in front of a hand full of witnesses, and then the most surprising twist of event had occurred in front of her sight._

_She had seen something in her sister's eyes that she hasn't seen before:_ _**respect for a man** _ _. Katerina respected her new husband,_ _**Duke Elijah Mikaelson** _ _. She had known her sister long enough to know that she had never seen her sister falling in love or respect a man before. Men have always taken advantage of Katerina the major part of her life, and she had played their game to gain what she could from them. But, this time she had seen something else in her sister's eyes, and who was she to remove from her the only chance to find happiness with a man? Therefore, she had sacrificed herself to a life of misery with a man she did not love, for the happiness of her sister…How ironic was it, when it was intended to be the contrary?_

_But Carolina Petrova was resourceful when she wanted to be, and as much as Klaus wanted to have the upper hand on their wedding night, she had one last chance of delaying the inevitable, she thought while smirking at the sight of the crystal flutes and bottle of champagne placed on the mahogany table._

_Duke Klaus Mikaelson was right … They were much alike, and Carolina was about to give him a taste of his own medicine._

* * *

" _This is certainly a view of my new wife that I was not expecting to see tonight." Carolina heard his hoarse voice behind her back. "You…Holding a glass of champagne in your hands, while waiting for your_ _ **husband.**_ _"_

_Klaus was standing on the threshold of the suite, with his left upper arm carelessly leaning on the arch and both of his upper arms crossed over his chest, with a smirk blessing the corners of his lips. He had stripped off his jacket; and folded the fabric on one of his arms, his tie was hanging on each side of his shirt, unbuttoned on his muscular chest, and his sleeves were rolled on his upper arms… As the view of sexiness goes, he was certainly reaching a perfect score, but Carolina could care less, she couldn't stand this man and his arrogance!_

" _I'm taking my new role as your new wife very seriously now." Carolina replied, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat, before raising a glass of champagne to his sight. "Thank you for the champagne, the strawberries and the whip cream, it was very tactful of you." She thanked him, with a timid smile, before very suggestively, bite into one. "You care to join me for a toast?"_

_Klaus narrowed his sight on his wife while closing the door with a foot kick on its panel, slowly reaching Carolina's standing position, before throwing his jacket on an armchair and lowering his head near hers._

" _I thought I would have needed to put you on my shoulder, once more, kicking and screaming, while bringing you into the marital bed, Love?" He murmured near her left ear, while creating a shiver of fear in Carolina's spine. Her plan needed to work, or she would be lost forever!_

" _Why delay the inevitable." She forced a smile on her lips, while shrugging and handing the flute of champagne to him._

" _Indeed, why delay it?" He smirked, taking the glass from her hand, before dropping its crystal feet on the table, encircling her waist and bringing Carolina into his arms with a strong pull._

" _I thought … I thought we would toast our wedding day, now?" She mumbled, while grabbing both of his upper arms to keep her balance._

" _But you're so eager to not delay the inevitable, sweetheart." He said, while raising her chin with a grip of his right hand, before drowning his sight in hers. "And as your new husband I can only oblige to your sudden need to fulfill your wife obligation in my bed." Klaus answered, smirking, while sliding his lips on the left side of her neck, leaving an upward trail of hot kisses on her skin, before nibbling on her earlobe. "I'm eager as you are to make you mine in the biblical sense of the term." He whispered to Carolina, one of his hands placed at the base of her neck, while grabbing a hand full of her hair to bend her head._

_Carolina closed her eyes, under a dizzy spell, before biting her bottom lip._

" _But the strawberries look so delicious that I thought we could take a bite with the champagne?" She tried to divert his attention._

" _And taking the chance to stain your beautiful dress, Love?" Klaus mocked. "Tsk, tsk, tsk… What are you thinking?"_

" _Maybe … Maybe I could go change into something more comfortable in my own suite?" She tried to gain time. "I … I could change into something sexier, perhaps?"_

" _I have a better idea." He smiled maliciously, while suddenly taking her by surprise by turning her body around. "Why don't we get rid of the dress?" He whispered, while slowly sliding both of his hands on her bare shoulders, down on her neckline, before tearing the silk fabric of the dress, from top to bottom. "There! That is more like it." Klaus smirked, before pushing the fabric down on her shaking body, in a pile of silk at her feet. "It's been hours that I wanted, desired, needed … To do this!"_

_Carolina grabbed the edge of the table, only dressed now with her lace corset and lace matching panties, while trying to keep her balanced standing position under her shaking legs, if not, she could easily fall on the floor over the pill of ripped fabric. The beats of her heart rose dangerously in her chest, under the range of her jerky breaths. She closed her eyes, while trying to calm herself down, mixed emotions of hate and desire taking control of her entire being against her better judgement._

" _I think it's only fair if I start undressing myself as well." She heard him whisper behind her back, before seeing his shirt fell over what used to be her "one piece" wedding dress. "Now where were we? You wanted to make a toast to our marriage, or am I mistaking?" Klaus asked, with a raised eyebrow, standing by her side near the table, while taking the flute in his right hand, before pouring the content into the ice bucket, a grin blessing the corners of his lips._

" _Why did you do that for?" Caroline asked, angrily, while stepping away from the table, before pointing a finger at the bucket, her chest rising under deep breaths._

" _What did you put into my glass, Love?" Klaus asked, while showing the flute and narrowing his sight on her, before dropping the flute on the table and starting to play with the fabric of his tie. "Was it drugs? I would probably bet good money that it was a night pill? You wanted to put me to sleep before we could consummate this marriage, Am I right, Carolina?" He suggested, while taking calculated, slow, walking steps to reach her standing position._

" _I don't know what you're talking about?" She shrugged, while blushing, the all range of red, before further the space between them, one walking step at a time._

" _You won't teach an old monkey how to play tricks, sweetheart." He smirked, while shaking his head. "It's me who invented them all."_

_Carolina glanced at the front door for a quick second, and her decision was made. She rushed toward the exit, before feeling the fabric of his tie wind around her waist, in a clever lasso throw, while being pulled back into his arms a second later._

" _You want to play games, woman? I'm all for it, but I have other games in mind….Sexier, naughtier…" He whispered to her, his head buried in the left hollow of her shoulder, his full lips kissing the softness of her skin, one of his hands sliding around her waist, while bringing her in full contact with his naked, muscular chest, with the other one rising to slowly caress the roundness of her breasts, over the thin barrier of the lace corset._

" _Let me go, please. You can't keep me against my will, or oblige me to have sex with you." She managed to whisper the words on her, half opened, trembling lips. She lowered her head on his chest, her left hand pulling on his arm placed around her waist, while trying to free herself of his embrace, with her right hand raised around his neck to keep her equilibrium on her shaking legs._

" _I'll never let go of you, I'll engrave those words in your mind, in your soul: you're mine forever now; Carolina, I'll wait as long as it takes for you to realize it…To realize that you want me as much as I want you." He whispered to her, before adding. "Your breasts are filling my hands perfectly, it's like you've been made for me." He mumbled the erotic words, while pushing the lace fabric of her corset down on her chest, the forbidden fruits now offered to his sight._

" _I don't want this, and I don't want you!" Carolina replied, in a shallow murmur, before contradicting herself by moaning loud sounds of pleasure._

" _She said, the woman who's moaning her sensual pleasure to my ears and in my arms." He murmured, growling his own rising pleasure, while aligning his pelvic bones with her narrowed hips, slowly rubbing the hard proof of his sexual need on her lower back, grabbing each side of her bottom before showing her the rhythmic rocking motion of lovers. "Cross both of your hands behind my neck, let me give you the most enjoyable sexual pleasure." He ordered her softly, while helping her crossed her hands behind his neck._

_Klaus raised his left hand back on her left breast, while slowly caressing the soft roundness and rubbing its hard tip with his thumb, before lowering his right under the elastic band of her lace panties._

" _No, I don't want this…" Carolina whispered, while rolling her head, from left to right, right to left, on his chest, her eyelids tightly closed, rising heartbeats pumping their sounds in her ears._

" _Yes, you do… Trust me, sweetheart." He calmed her, before slowly caressing her centered core with slow movements of his fingers. "You want me this much?" He smirked, while closing his eyes, and enjoying her sweet arousal under his fingers, before slowly rubbing her small rose bump with the dexterity of an experimented lover._

_It did not take a long time for Carolina breaths to intensify, and when Klaus felt that she was near reaching her sexual peak, he reopened his eyes to witness the intense explosion created in all her body by his expert caresses._

_He, then, rapidly raised Carolina in his arms, before carrying her to the bed and lowering her shaking body on the bed sheet, rapidly undressing himself of his remaining clothes, a short moment after._

_Caroline reopened her eyes, suddenly blushing and turning her head to the left on the pillow, while avoiding Klaus' naked view and obvious proof of his sexual desire for her._

" _Don't, Klaus … I beg you … You think you know everything about me, but you don't." She tried to explain, with a murmur coming from her shaking voice, her closed fists grabbing the edges of the pillow, while feeling his expert hands roll down her stockings suspenders on the length of her legs, soon replaced by kisses on her ankles._

" _I know that you want me more than your stubbornness is allowing you to admit, Love." He replied, before sliding her panties down, leaving to his sight her opened lace corset, giving him the most vivid erotic image of her breasts that a man could desire._

_She closed her eyes while noticing the weight of his body on hers, electrifying every inch of her skin, before feeling his hands slide between her legs to part them._

_He couldn't wait any longer, his sexual need to make Carolina his was taking his own retaining under a spell of its own. He sank deep into her core in a strong pelvic push under his grunt of satisfaction, before rapidly holding his thrusting pace; opening his eyes under the ultimate shock of feeling the thin skin barrier he had torn._

_A little cry came out of Carolina's mouth, with a single tear running down her cheek, under the shrill but rapid pain of losing her virginity._

" _Why, Carolina? Why…" He whispered, while re-closing his eyes, under a range of intense mixed emotions. "I'll be gentle, but I can't … I can't…" He murmured more, with incoherence, before slowly and gently pushing himself back into her narrowest._

_His released came rapidly, and when he rolled away from her body, she turned her back at him, while raising her shaking legs on her stomach and encircling them of her arms, with tears rolling freely on her cheeks._

_Klaus stepped away from the bed, grabbed his clothes from every corner of the bedroom floor, before sliding his pants on his legs. He, then, paced back and forth in the room, while passing a nervous hand through his tangled hair, before approaching the bed and bringing the bed sheet on her trembling body._

" _Don't touch me!" She yelled, while pushing his hand away from her. "Don't ever touch me again!" She warned him._

_He sighed loudly, while closing his eyes, under an emotional pain that he had never felt before this day, and over the thousand years of his own life._

" _Why didn't you tell me? Why?" He yelled back, while pointing an accusatory finger at her._

_She kept quiet, under the only sound of her sobbing, before hearing the suite door being slammed on its arch. Then and only then, she finally realized that he had left the suite, and that she could finally let out all of her emotional and physical pain._


	9. The morning after

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia** _

_**(…)** _

_A little cry came out of Carolina's mouth, with a single tear running down her cheek, under the shrill but rapid pain of losing her virginity._

" _Why, Carolina? Why…" He whispered, while reclosing his eyes, under a range of intense mixed emotions. "I'll be gentle, but I can't … I can't…" He murmured more, with incoherency, before slowly and gently pushing himself back into her narrowest._

_His released came rapidly, and when he rolled away from her body, she turned her back at him, while raising her shaking legs on her stomach and encircling them of her arms, with tears rolling freely on her cheeks._

_Klaus stepped away from the bed, grabbed his clothes from every corner of the bedroom floor, before sliding his pants on his legs. He, then, paced back and forth in the room, while passing a nervous hand through his tangled hair, before approaching the bed and bringing the bed sheet on her trembling body._

" _Don't touch me!" She yelled, while pushing his hand away from her. "Don't ever touch me again!" She warned him._

_He sighed loudly, while closing his eyes, under an emotional pain that he had never felt before this day, and over the thousand years of his own life._

" _Why didn't you tell me? Why?" He yelled back, while pointing an accusatory finger at her._

_She kept quiet, under the only sound of her sobbing, before hearing the suite door being slammed on its arch. Then and only then, she finally realized that he had left the suite, and that she could finally let out all of her emotional and physical pain._

* * *

_The rays of light passing through the tick fabrics of the curtains awaken Carolina from her deep sleep, her swollen and heavy eyelids forbidding her to open her eyes. She moaned her discontent under her semi-state of consciousness, before forcing herself to open her mind to the reality of this new day, while facing it courageously with a blur vision._

_She pushed the blanket and sheet at her feet before rising on her two shaken legs, soreness taking her suddenly by surprise as a vivid physical reminder of last night event._

_She stood in front of the length mirror while sighing loudly. The time she had passed crying until the first hours of the day had swallowed her cheeks and darken the circles under her eyes to a point of no recognition of her own self, with the prove of her own reflection at the present moment. She passed a hand through her tangled hair before facing the bed once more and startling at the sight of the obvious red, blood stain left on the sheet. In an excess of rage she pulled the silk fabric away from the mattress, before throwing the sheet with anger on the wooden floor, her chest rising under her jerky breaths, while stomping her bare feet on it with all the rage still contained inside of herself._

_She finally sat down on the mattress while covering her eyes with her right hand, tears starting to fill her eyes. She shook her head before stroking her eyelids one last time, while raising her chin with proudness and breathing deeply. She had given enough of her tears to this man named: Klaus Mikaelson … No more!_

_She slowly rose on her legs with her sight suddenly attracted by a black jewellery box left on the side table, its cover attached with a yellow ribbon and a small card with her name written in calligraphic letters on it: "_ _**Carolina"** _ _, with all that had happened yesterday night, she haven't had the time to notice the box earlier. She bit her bottom lip, while against her own judgement reaching for it, before pulling on the ribbon to open the box._

_Inside of the box, lying on the velvety black cushion, a delicate ankle chain with each letter of her name attached to each of its gold mesh. She reached for the card once more, and read its inside:_

_**To my wife Carolina, just know that I don't want to change you. I come to like you just the way you are. I hope this small token of my appreciation, will prove it. For your ankle when you are walking barefoot. I hope we'll enjoy our first night as husband and wife, Love? Fondly, Klaus** _

_She closed her eyes while feeling the beats of her heart rising dangerously in her chest. She couldn't have a coherent thought in her mind at the present moment; she felt a range of mixed feelings attacking her all at once. Carolina suddenly replaced the ankle bracelet in the box, before closing the cover and furiously throwing the box in the drawer of the nightstand._

" _Damn you, Klaus Mikaelson!" She lashed out, while pointing the drawer, before pacing back and forth in front of the bed. "черт бы тебя побрал!" Damn you - She repeated in Russian. "You can't do what you did last night and then … This!" She added, before holding her pace and closing her eyes, with both closed fists placed on each side of her body._

_She suddenly left the bedroom, while storming out of Klaus's suite a few seconds later with a loud slam of the door. She came back into the suite, while rapidly walking toward the bedroom, opening the drawer and furiously grabbing the jewelry box, before leaving the suite once again._

* * *

_Maria entered the parlor room, in normal pace of her morning tasks routine, before walking toward the bay window, while humming an old romantic song and opening the curtains._

" _Leave them closed." She heard a hoarse voice ordering her. "And please, stop humming that stupid song."_

_She startled with surprise, before turning on herself to face the intruder, while raising her right hand over her chest._

" _I've said to close the curtains!" Klaus ordered in a louder voice, while bringing the bottle of Whisky to his mouth._

" _Certainly, Duke." Maria replied, while reclosing the curtains in front of the day light, before turning to face Klaus who was presently sitting in one of the leather armchairs, still dressed with his wedding suit, the shirt opened on his chest, obvious stains of blood left on the fabric, his neck and hands. "Can I help you, Can I bring you…"_

" _I don't want anything. And don't you dare pity me, Maria, I hate when people pity me." He mumbled, angrily, while cutting her in the middle of the sentence, before gulping more alcohol. "The asshole that I am doesn't deserve pity; he only deserves to get drunk…Salute Maria!" He saluted, smirking, while raising the bottle and gulping the last drops of alcohol left in the bottle. "Well, this one is obviously empty?" He realized, before rising on his shaking legs, losing his balance repeatedly, while taking a few walking steps to reach the fireplace, before crashing the bottle on its bricks wall. "There… That is what my life has always been; thousands of broken pieces of glass dispersed everywhere, but yet, ready to be crushed in even more pieces." He added, while grabbing the fire mantle with his left hand, helping to keep his equilibrium, before sighing loudly and passing his right hand over his mouth. "Bring me another bottle." He asked of her._

" _I don't think that is such a good idea." Maria responded, while shaking her head and nervously rubbing her hands together. "Perhaps I could bring you a strong cup of coffee?"_

" _I said: Bring me another bottle!" He lashed out at her._

_She nodded her head, while directing her walking steps toward the bar, before grabbing a bottle of Brandy and bringing the alcohol back to him._

_He grabbed the bottle from her hands, before snapping the cap and gulping some more. After a short moment, he finally turned his teary eyes toward the governess._

" _What are you looking at? Don't you have something else to do than observing the jerk that I am destroying his pathetic life?" He asked her._

" _You have blood all over you; maybe you should take time to clean yourself a little bit?" She asked, while slowly raising a clean cloth in her right hand._

_Klaus lowered his head, before bursting into laughter._

" _You think that I could also erase all my sins with this cotton cloth, Maria?" He asked her, while grabbing the small piece of fabric from her hands, before rubbing the blood from his skin. "I don't remember how many victims I attacked last night, isn't it ironic?" He added, with a demoniac smile plastered on his lips. "I believe that one of them was named Michelle, and her perfume smelled like Jasmine flowers."_

" _You had a relapse, it happens. But, I'm sure that your turmoil is not as bad as it looks?" She tried to encourage him, while addressing a timid smile and nodding her head._

" _You think you know me don't you?" He asked her, his sight lost in hers. "And in the most twisted way, you actually do, and you don't even know it!" He laughed to her face. "And you're right; Maria, my turmoil is not as bad, it's way, way worst that you could even imagine." He replied, before throwing the cloth in the fire place. "Now go … Leave me alone!" He ordered the governess, before grabbing the fire mantle with both hands and bending his head._

_Maria nodded her head, before storming out of the parlor room._

* * *

_Katerina opened her left eye while noticing the day light filtering through the curtains of the bedroom windows. She lay on her chest a few extra minutes, a blissful smile plastered on her lips, before stretching her arms above her head and suddenly frozen all her movements with the memory of yesterday events coming at her all at once._

_She frantically raised the sheet over her chest, before turning her head toward the other side of the bed, thankfully her new husband, the Duke Elijah Mikealson had left the marital bed early, she thought while closing her eyes and sighing with reliefs, her right forearm placed over her forehead. She pushed the sheet at her feet, before rising on her legs, and while standing immobile for a few seconds with her eyes shot, both hands on each side of her waist, before taking deep breaths to calm herself down._

_For anyone who would have liked to know, this has been Karolina's Petrova ...Now newly married and renamed: Katherine Pierce Mikaelason, wedding night, and a very_ _**chaste** _ _one if she may add to herself. But, who would be interested to learn the biggest mistake she had made in her entire life? She had managed to married the only man that was not interested to fulfil his biblical obligation as a husband to her. In a sense she should be happy to live a life of luxury without having to sell her body for it, but for an inexplicable reason she felt unhappy and unsettle by this all situation between them._

_She dragged her feet toward the bathroom door before strolling inside the luxury room, firstly unaware of the deep steam filling the air and misting the mirrors. She suddenly raised her sight in the one of her husband, while standing mouth opened, motionless, and frozen of all her coherent thoughts, before sliding her sight, on her husband naked body, from his head to his toes._

_Elijah had stepped outside of the glass shower, while managing to grab a body towel on a near hook in the nick of time of his wife apparition in front of his sight, before covering the essential to her view. But, the damn fabric kept sliding from his wet hands down on his body before finding its rightful place on the marble floor._

" _Well, this did not go certainly as planned?" He mocked, while lowering his eyes on the towel lying at his feet. "Would you say, Katerina?" He added, mockingly, while raising his sight in the one of his wife._

_For Katerina one thing was certain; the nature had spoiled Elijah in all the right places, she thought while blushing and suddenly rushing by his side, kneeling in front of him to pick up the towel that he had just dropped on the floor, before raising her head and sight directly into his pubic area, a fire reaching her cheeks in a time space of a second._

" _And this is something that I did not see coming, either." Elijah added, smirking, while putting both of his hands on each side of his waist. "But, don't let me be the one to protest in any shape or form."_

" _W… ha …What?" Katerina stuttered the word, under her blurry mind, before raising her head and sight into Elijah's. "No! You're mistaking." She added firmly, while rising on her legs, before wrapping Elijah's waist with the body towel, with a knot on his left hip to keep it for falling again, all of this, under his dumbfounded and speechless expression. "I just wanted to help." She explained, before standing in front of her husband, while rubbing her hands nervously. "After all I'm the one who should be sorry for the intrusion; I forgot to knock on the door panel before entering the bathroom, it's my bad."_

" _No harm done." Elijah replied, before taking a step nearer to Katerina's standing position, his head bending so close, his lips almost touching the lobe of her left ear. "We are married, Katerina, you can enter whenever you want, it is not upsetting me the least. I also believe that you saw all there is to see about my naked self." He mocked, while gently grabbing her chin and losing his sight in hers._

" _I've seen my share of naked man in my existence, Elijah, nothing to lose unconsciousness about." She shrugged, falsely at ease, and with a raised eyebrow._

" _And, were you pleased with what you just saw, do I get a good score under your qualified male radar?" He asked her, a smile curving the corners of his lips._

" _Average, I guess." She replied, while blushing and lying through her teeth, before biting her bottom lip._

_Elijah took a step away from her before lowering his head and bursting into laughter._

" _A breath of fresh air that is what you are to me, Katerina." He responded, while raising his right hand and caressing her left cheek, before adding. "Did you sleep well?"_

_She nodded her head as a response to him._

" _Well, now that the awkwardness of my naked average body is behind us, I'll let you at your morning routine, and go dress myself in the bedroom." He added, politely, while nodding his head to her, before taking his first steps toward the bathroom door._

" _I don't mind if you stay if you need to do your own morning routine, I just needed to pee." She shrugged more, while seeing him turn to take a stupefied glance at her._

" _You want me to stay in the bathroom while you pee?" Elijah repeated, while crossing his arms in front of his naked chest, in a state of total shock._

" _Forget what I've said!" Katerina replied, ashamed, while passing rapidly by Elijah's standing position. "I'll go get dressed and pee in my own suite." She added, while blushing, before slamming the door in front of his speechless expression._

* * *

" _Good morning, Mister Mikaelson." Maria greeted him, while lowering a silver platter on his desktop, before pouring tea in a porcelain cup. "You're up very early; I thought you would appreciate a cup of tea."_

" _Thank you, Maria; it's very thoughtful of you." He replied, smiling at her, before grabbing the handle and bringing the suiting hot beverage to his lips._

" _Did you and your wife sleep well?" She inquired, politely, while smiling and standing in front of his desk with her crossed hands in front of her chest._

" _Yes, we had a lovely first night in our suite, thank you." He replied, while raising his head from his opened file, before drowning his sight in the one of the governess. "Is everything set for the morning brunch in the main dining room?"_

" _It is, Mister Mikaelson, everything will be ready for 11:30 o'clock, sharp." She replied, smiling, while nodding her head._

" _Thank you again for your services and that will be all, Maria." He added, before suddenly noticing her awkward and immobile presence in front of his desk. "Is there something wrong?"_

" _Actually, it's something I believe that you should know." She explained, uncomfortably, while blushing._

" _I'm listening?" He replied, while lowering his pen on the desktop._

" _I've found your brother in the main parlor room, earlier this morning, with several bottles of alcohol left on the floor, by his side, Mister Mikaelson. He's still there as we speak." She informed him. "Please, I can assure you that it's never my intention to put my nose where it doesn't belong."_

_Elijah sighed loudly, while raising his right hand to stroke his eyelids, before lowering his back on the desk chair, his hands joined in front of his chest._

" _I'll take care of it." Elijah replied, while nodding his head. "Thank you for informing me, Maria."_

" _Very well, sir." She replied, before turning on herself and directing her walk toward the exit of the study room._

" _Maria?" Elijah called her._

" _Yes?" She replied, before turning on herself and facing him._

" _You're family to us, please remember that." He smiled timidly at her._

" _You're very kind, Mister Mikaelson." She replied, smiling, before grabbing the door handle._

" _Maria?" He called again._

" _Yes, Mister Mikaelson, may I be of other services?" She asked._

" _Did you … I mean, it's kind of personal and private, actually." He tried to ask, while lowering his head and blushing._

" _It will stay in all confidentiality; I can assure you of that." She assured him, while straightening her upper body and crossing her hands behind her back._

" _I know, you're a trustworthy person, I never doubted that since you've became our governess." He reassured her. "I just feel like I'm the old boy who just got married, and knows nothing about married life." He confessed, while hitting the pen repeatedly on the desktop._

" _Well, excuse my forwardness…" Maria started with uneasiness of how to formulate her sentence._

" _Please, be frank with me." He begged her, with a hand gesture._

" _But… You had your share of …" She added, before coughing discreetly. "How may I put it politely, Mister Mikaelson. You had your share of intimate relationships with women over the years."_

" _Yes, but not a single one of them ever ask me to watch them pee." He lashed out, while throwing his pen on the desk and sighing loudly, before passing a nervous hand through his hair._

_Maria lowered her head, while holding the intense urge to burst into laughter._

" _Oh please, I won't feel offended if you laugh at me." Elijah assured Maria, while closing his eyes and shaking his head._

" _I'm so sorry, Mister Mikaelson, pardon me … It was just a moment of bewilderment." She replied, while raising her head and biting her lips to forbid her to laugh._

" _Don't worry about it, I know the awkwardness of the situation, believe me. I'm sorry for keeping you, you can leave now." He encouraged her to do._

" _Mister Mikaelson, if I may add something?" She asked him, politely._

" _You may…" Elijah responded, while crossing his arms over his chest._

" _I believe your wife is reaching out to you, in an awkward but adorable way." She explained, a smile blessing her lips._

" _She doesn't need to reach out, I'm always available." He shrugged._

" _Well …. You're seeing this as a man perspective, and man logic." Maria tried to explain._

" _Which makes sense, I'm a man." Elijah replied._

" _Yes, but as a woman perspective, I believe your wife is longing for more closeness." Maria found the courage to let the sentence out._

_An awkward silence suddenly filled the study room, disturbed by the discreet tic-tac-toc noise of the wall clock._

" _That will be all, Maria." Elijah finally released his governess for this awkward moment._

" _Thank you, Mister Mikaelson." She nodded, before storming out of the study room, and sighing with reliefs while closing the door behind her._

* * *

_Maria stood immobile in front of the kitchen window, her arms crossed over her chest, her sight lost in the winter scenery, before turning her head at the discreet cough sound._

" _Miss Katerina." She greeted the young woman, with a smile. "May I be of services? Oh my bad, what was I thinking, I should name you with your married name as of now."_

_Katerina shrugged her shoulders, while detaching herself from the threshold of the kitchen entrance._

" _Would it be too much to ask to keep calling me the same way you used to call me?" She asked the governess._

" _No, of course not… I don't see any harm in that." Maria agreed, while nodding her head in respect. "Can I do something for you?"_

" _I can get my cup of coffee myself, thank you." Katerina answered her, while taking a few steps toward the coffee maker._

" _Allow me." Maria suggested, while taking a single cup filter from a near box left on the kitchen counter. "Double espresso?"_

" _Yes, please … And thank you." Katerina replied, while smiling timidly._

" _You share the same taste as your husband." Maria informed, smiling, while pushing the start button._

" _That should make a big difference." Katerina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth, while rolling her eyes._

" _I'm sorry…" Maria asked, dumbfounded._

" _Nothing….Don't mind me." She replied to the governess, while shaking her head._

" _Mister Mikaelson asked me to prepare a family brunch around the lunch hour, in the main dining room; in the meantime, I could prepare you a toast to fill the hunger void in your stomach, my child?" Maria suggested._

" _What about my anger void?" Katerina murmured to herself, while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

_Maria smirked at her comment, before grabbing a plate on a shelf, and cutting a slice of bread, before opening the small bread oven._

" _Something you have on your mind, Miss Katerina?" Maria asked._

" _Am I attractive, Maria? I mean, for the English men?" Katerina asked the governess, openly._

" _I beg your pardon!" Maria exclaimed, outraged._

" _I mean… I know in Russia men were finding me attractive, but in England maybe … Maybe they have other taste." She shrugged, in sadness._

" _From where is this ludicrous idea coming from, Miss Katerina?" Maria asked, while lowering the butter on the kitchen counter. "You're extremely attractive and beautiful."_

_Katerina turned her head to avoid Maria's persistent glance, before crossing her hands behind her back, while jumping up from one foot to the other._

" _It's coming from nowhere." She finally responded, while raising her sight in the one of the governess._

" _Miss Katerina… You have a wrong perception of how your husband is seeing you, if you need to believe in something, believe my say to you." Maria replied to her. "Mister Mikaelson had grown very fond of you in a very short period of time of your presence in these walls."_

" _He had a strange way of showing it." She rolled her eyes._

" _He's a man, my child; don't wish for too much at first." Maria replied, while rolling her eyes herself, before handing the cup of coffee to the young woman. "Maybe you should encourage him a little?" Maria gave the idea. "I mean there is certainly nothing wrong in pushing someone in the right direction, is there?" She suggested more, while winking at Katerina._

_Katerina shrugged her shoulders, uncertain of Maria suggestion to her, before grabbing the plate and the cup of espresso._

" _Thank you … I mean for both this and the advice." Katerina thanked her, while taking her first steps toward the door._

" _You're welcome." Maria replied, smiling. "Nice slippers by the way, Miss Katerina." She mocked._

" _Thank you." Katherina replied, smirking, before adding. "They were the only four inches slippers."_

" _Oh I'm sure, Mister Mikaelson, will appreciate them." Maria added, while raising her right hand in front of her mouth, forbidding herself to burst into laughter._

* * *

" _I hope you have a good reason for this misplaced display of anger, Niklaus?" Elijah asked his brother, while entering the parlor room and trying to avoid the broken glass left on the wooden floor._

_The eldest stood in front of the youngest while burying his hands in his pants pockets, his sigh narrowed intensively on Klaus._

" _You know me, Elijah, always the black sheep of the family." Klaus responded, while taking another gulp. "Cheer, brother!" He saluted, before drinking some more._

" _Since when did you start to drink?" Elijah asked, while approaching him and abruptly grabbing the bottle from Klaus's hand._

" _Is it important?" Klaus responded, while shrugging and walking to reach the bar, before frantically opening the doors to find more bottles as his disposition, but without finding any. "It's empty; I'll need to go downstairs to the cellar."_

" _You drank enough." Elijah replied, with an ordering tone of voice._

" _Says who?" Klaus responded, while shrugging his shoulders. "The conscience of this family, I suppose, Elijah the majestic, the only one among us who always stood for the respect of this fucked up humanity. How ironic? Because you see Elijah, we are not humans anymore."_

" _If you could have the decency to tell me from where, the blood stains on your shirt are coming from?" Elijah demanded._

" _Michelle, Clara … Lise… and after that last one, I unfortunately lost count." Klaus smirked, before losing his balance and finding himself fall into a sitting position on the leather sofa._

" _The police will come asking for answers again, Klaus, what am I supposed to tell them this time?" Elijah asked, angrily, and while sighing loudly. "And why aren't you with Carolina, remember her, your new beautiful wife?"_

" _Relax Elijah; the poor human victims are all alive. I just drank a little cocktail of all their bloods, before letting them go. If my memory is serving me right, they were still breathing at that time." Klaus replied, before passing a hand though his tangled hair. "Worst case scenario, you'll tell the police that it is impossible that I was the one martyrizing them because at the same time I was brutalizing my wife in our suite." He added, with a sadistic smile, before rising on his shaking legs and raising his teary sight in the one of his brother._

_Elijah stood immobile for a couple of seconds, with a speechless expression plastered on his face, before raising a hand toward his brother._

" _What happened to you and Carolina, last night, Niklaus?" He asked, calmly, while shaking his head in disbelief, before putting both of his closed fists on each side of his waist._

_Klaus closed his eyes, before dragging his feet toward the closed curtains, before opening the fabric under the grey winter sky of London._

" _I had no idea she wasn't experienced, Elijah. I swear to you, I never expected it." Klaus confessed, while shaking his head, tears rolling fluently on his cheeks._

" _What are you saying?" Elijah added, in shock._

" _I'm not sure." Klaus added, while passing the back of his right hand on his wet cheeks. "I don't know anymore, I keep seeing all these images in my head, and I'm still not sure what happened exactly?"_

" _Please, reassure me that you did not physically abuse your wife?" Elijah asked, his jerky breaths raising his chest._

_Klaus kept quiet, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat._

" _Oh, for God sake, what did you do, Niklaus?" Elijah exclaimed, while raising his right hand and stroking his eyelids. "Why would you jeopardize the only good and decent relationship you had since centuries while not respecting her intimately? What possessed you to hurt her this way, couldn't you have the decency to be gentle with her? She is not one of your conquests that you'd picked up in a bar, she is your wife!"_

" _I never thought I was hurting her!" Klaus lashed out, while turning on himself to face his brother. "I thought she wanted me, the same way I wanted her! God I wanted her, but as it turns out, she wanted out of this marriage from the beginning. She never wanted me." He added. "It's the last thing that I wanted to do, to hurt Carolina this way, the last thing … Please, believe me, Elijah?" Klaus mumbled, while reaching the arm chair, taking a sitting position and burying his head in his hands._

_A silence filled the room for a short moment before Elijah could speak again._

" _You're entirely at fault, Niklaus. You could twist it all the ways you want, you would still be at fault." He said to him._

" _There is nothing that you could say to me, now, that I did not already thought or said to myself." Klaus responded._

" _Let me finish." Elijah ordered him, while raising a finger at him, before pacing back and forth in front of his brother sitting position. "You are the investigator of these arranged marriages. You convinced me to participate in this idea that I thought at first was the most ludicrous one I've ever heard, but after consideration, I agreed to it, because I fell under the charm of this Russian girl named Katerina. She is a beautiful, young woman, intelligent, cultured, I thought, like you, that all these mistresses were not for us anymore. And I agreed to it. I agreed to give it a try."_

" _What is your point, Elijah?" Klaus asked, while raising his sight in the one of his brother._

" _My point, Niklaus, is that I gave it more consideration that you ever did. You thought that your power and money would grant you whatever your wish of the moment was, and you never saw the human being behind this young woman named: Carolina, you saw a way to an end." Elijah added. "You did not even grant both of you, the time to know yourselves better before furthering your relationship."_

" _I never learned how to be different, Elijah." Klaus responded, a single tear rolling on his left cheek. "I always took, because no one wanted to give me what I always been longing for."_

" _Love can't be bought, Klaus, it simply can't." Elijah replied, while shaking his head._

" _Then, what did you do yourself?" Klaus responded, tit for tat._

" _Probably the same mistake that you did. But, the difference is that I will try to, gentlemanly, live up to it." Elijah answered. "This said, you played with fire and you got burned, and in the process you made a huge mistake."_

" _Is that all?" Klaus asked, while sticking his head into his shoulders._

" _No, it's not." Elijah replied. "You have your long list of flaws, Niklaus, and I know most of them, believe me, but terrorizing women has never been part of that list." He added. "Even if I believe that you are the investigator of this awful turn of event, I believe that Carolina has her own wrongs. She should have informed you of her inexperience; it is not written on her forehead. She should have informed you of her need to get out of this marriage agreement, as well as her own sister. She should have acted like a grown up woman and not like a young teenager." Elijah addressed the issue, while burying his hands in his pants pockets. "But, you're still at fault, and you'll need to fix it the more honorable way possible." Elijah concluded, while turning on himself before walking toward the entrance door of the parlor room._

" _Because of me, you'll lose Katerina." Klaus mumbled, between his teeth. "I'm … I'm so sorry."_

" _Yes Niklaus. I figured that much." Elijah replied. "And now I wonder how it would be even possible to start to explain to them what we truly are." He added, before slamming the door behind him._

* * *

_Elijah had summoned Katerina in his study room ten minutes ago, and now she was standing motionless in front of him, while keeping her sight lost in the emptiness of the room, all coherent thoughts absent from her mind._

_He had exposed to her the present situation between Carolina and his brother, but she wasn't sure she had entirely understood the consequences of last night event. She only knew one thing for sure; she had made a mistake while believing that this arranged marriage, with a wealthy man, would make her sister happy. Carolina was a pure and free spirit, and she was not ready for what life has put her through._

_She raised her teary sight in the one of Elijah, who addressed a timid smile to her, while raising his right hand and caressing both of her cheeks._

" _I'm not sure if I fully understood what you've just said to me?" She mumbled the words._

" _You did." Elijah confirmed, while nodding his head._

" _But she… They seemed happy at the wedding and then at the reception, and they seemed to get along just fine." Katherine added, while grabbing her head with both hands._

" _She doesn't want to be with him. Your sister's say, I couldn't attest of the truthfulness of her words." He added, as explanation. "I just know that my brother is deeply sorry of his actions, he was attracted to her but it was not reciprocated."_

" _He's sorry? I don't give a damn if he is sorry or not, he hurt my sister." Katerina lashed out, while pointing a finger at Elijah. "She should have been with you; she should have married you, not him!"_

" _Oh come on, Katerina, it's not a game of chess, we're playing. Things are how they are supposed to be, if you believe otherwise, it will change nothing." Elijah replied, angrily, at her._

" _But, you were respectful and you did not force yourself on me." She exclaimed, angrily. "I have to find my sister." She added, while turning on herself._

" _Please, don't go." He suggested, while grabbing her right forearm, before pulling her near him. "Yes, I respect you, Katerina, but we are different from your sister and my brother. We had put our cards on the table from the beginning, we managed to understand each other and accept what this arrangement would bring to us, the gain and the down side. We discussed the clauses like adults and we accepted the conditions. They didn't!" He explained to her._

" _It is still not an excuse." She mumbled, between her teeth, while pushing herself away from his grip and walking toward the office door, before grabbing the handle with her right hand._

_Elijah push the door closed in front of her sight, before placing both of his hands on each side of her upper body, on the wood panel._

" _Katerina, please listen to me." He murmured, his muscular chest pressed on her back, his mouth near her right ear._

" _What is left to listen, Elijah? You just told me that your brother had physically abused my sister, and you are asking me to stay calm and not react?"_

_He grabbed both of her forearms before turning her body to face him._

" _I think there is more than meet the eyes between the two of them." Elijah said to her. "I don't think it was that easy to label as_ _ **an assault**_ _. I think their nerves took the best of them."_

" _It's my baby sister." She mumbled, tears rolling on her cheeks. "She is hurt because of me. It's me who pushed her into this arranged marriage, Elijah, being the fault of your brother or hers; it doesn't change the outcome of me being the investigator."_

" _I know, and it's my brother also, Katerina. And believe me, I know how stupid he can be most of the time, but I never known him as an abuser." He reassured her. "As for your sister, you perfectly know that you've never twisted her arm to marry Klaus, she did it in her all free will. Now if she did it for the wrong reasons, she is at fault to have lied to him, and mostly to you."_

" _What are you saying to me?" She asked, while grabbing his forearms to keep her balance._

" _I'm saying that they will need to figure out between themselves what happened." Elijah tried to calm her down. "I believe that my brother made a huge mistake, but if this is any twisted consolation, he usually makes them when he cares about someone. And I think he has deep feelings for your sister."_

" _She is a baby, and your brother hurt her." She lashed out, while trying get free of Elijah's grip, without being able to succeed._

" _That is the burden of this humanity, Katerina. We hurt others all the time. Carolina is a grown up woman of twenty two years old, who had her own flaws and wrongs in this present situation." Elijah tried to explain to her, while pushing her wrists on the door panel. "Believe me, I am not excusing my brother for his actions, but I understand that they are both at fault."_

_Katerina closed her eyes, her chest rising up and down, alternatively, under her jerky breaths._

" _You need to let Carolina take her own responsibilities and become the woman she is meant to be. She needs to grow up. She can't count on her sister saving her skin all the time." Elijah added to his wife. "Ok? Are you agreeing to give them the necessary time to sort this out?"_

" _Ok." Katerina agreed, while nodding her head._

" _You're sure?" Elijah asked her, with a raised eyebrow._

" _Yes" She replied. "I'll give your bother an hour, not a single minute more."_

" _It's fair enough." He replied, while letting go of his grip on her, before walking toward the window, hands buried in his trousers pockets, sight lost into the grey sky._

" _In the worst upcoming case, you'll soon have two plane tickets at your disposition, as well as a Russian bank account established at your name." Elijah explained to her. "I'll contact the agency and explain to them that we've decided to mutually end this marriage for incompatibility. You and your sister will be free to go, Katerina."_

" _I don't want your money, Elijah, even if you are trying to do the honorable thing." She told him, while shaking her head. "If I could, I'll do my end of the bargain and stay here as your wife, like it was planned, but I need to think of my sister happiness above all. I need to know that she is happy, and I realize now that I forced her into a relationship she never wanted to begin with." She tried to explain. "And if she doesn't want to be with your brother, I can't force her."_

" _As for the money, I think it's the least I can do to assure the new start in life that you've wanted for you and your sister." He replied. "Though, there is still a good chance that you'll stay here, by my side, in this mansion, as my wife." He added, before turning to face her, with a smile blessing his lips._

" _What you're saying? She won't start to like him in the time space of an hour, Elijah, we both know better." She responded to her newly husband, while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _Yes, and it is because I know better, than I am able to conclude that she is not indifferent to Klaus." Elijah explained to her, while drowning his sight in Katerina's. "I actually think she could be good for him, and vice-versa."_

" _I don't understand?" She responded, while shaking her head._

" _They are both the same, Katerina: restless, unwise, and brutally passionate. They'll fight each other, because they don't know better and are scare." He explained, while sitting on the edge of his desktop, before crossing his arms in front of his chest and adding. "She stayed in his bedroom suite all night; I've checked with my night guard." He informed her. "Please, don't look at me with these judging eyes, like I did something wrong, I am trying to help." He added, while tilting his head._

" _I presume that most of my moves are under your guard's eyes also?" She asked, with a raised chin._

" _Mostly, yes, I won't lie. You're one of my most precious possessions, Katerina, I need to keep you safe." He replied, truthfully, while making her blush. "To come back at the subject at hands, your sister unconsciously waited for my brother to come back to her. She could have left his suite at any time, but she stayed in his bed. In the first hours of the morning she could have reached out to you, and as of now you would have left this manor. But, she didn't." Elijah shrugged. "Let them realize where they are standing with each other."_

" _One hour." Katerina bestowed, while drowning her sight in Elijah's._

" _One hour." Elijah repeated, nodding, before lowering his sight on her feet. "Nice slippers, Katerina? I believe it's the first ones I ever saw with high heels." He added, while smirking and winking at her._

* * *

_The noise of the front door being closed on its arch took Carolina by surprised, soon followed by the cold flow of air softly caressing her bare shoulders._

_She felt the beats of her heart raising dangerously, her left hand placed over the chest, to calm her down._

_The rhythmic slow tempo of Klaus's boots on the wooden floor rezoned into her ears, while approaching the bedroom where she was standing in front of the window, before stopping radically over the threshold._

_She closed her eyes, with only the awkward silence filling the room, only disturbed by the heartbeats of her heart._

_Klaus closed his eyelids, while listening to the calming tempo sounds of the raising heartbeats in Carolina's chest: Lub dub, Lub dub, Lub dub. He reopened his eyes, while narrowing his sight at her back, her blond hair cascading over her bare shoulders._

_He shook his head; while forbidding himself to ever have one more thought of desire for his wife._

" _I thought you would have been gone by now." He murmured the words, while lowering his head, his blurry sight kept on the floor._

" _I don't have anywhere else to go, and I wouldn't leave my own sister behind." She answered him, after a short while, while mumbling the words and bringing, with her shaking hands, a cup of coffee to her lips._

" _Carolina, I'm …" He tried to apologize, while raising his sight at her._

" _I left the soiled sheet on the floor." She informed him, abruptly._

_Klaus startled at her say, while closing his eyes and biting his bottom lip through the skin, drops of blood running down his chin, before closing his fists in anger … Anger, mostly directed at his own selfishness._

" _I think Maria will see the blood stain left on the fabric. I should have washed them myself." She added, while shaking her head. "I did not think clearly, early this morning."_

" _Are the sheet still on the floor now?" Klaus asked, with a hoarse voice, tears filling his eyes._

" _Yes" She murmured the word._

" _I'll go take care of it." He responded, while turning on himself, being on the verge of leaving the room._

" _Please, stay … It wouldn't change anything now." She said, while retaining him in the bedroom. "What's done is done. We can't change the past." She added, before turning on herself and facing his back. "I'm obviously not a virgin anymore. That is something that I can regain for myself, and that you can't give back to me." She concluded, toneless and emotionless, while dropping the cup of coffee on the nightstand._

_The pain that Klaus felt in his entrails couldn't have been worst, except for the one that he felt in the deepness of his soul. He turned on himself, before facing her, and raising his sight in the one of the young Russian woman._

_He swallowed a lump in his throat at her view: her gaze was empty of all emotions, puffed eyelids and dark circles under her eyes were a clear indication of a sleepless night. She was wearing a pink sweat pants and a large white sweater that denuded her frail shoulders._

_She startled at Klaus's sight, even if she had promised to herself to stay emotionless and indifferent. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a white Hayley, long sleeves, t-shirt, rolled on his forearms, he had the greenish complexion of a man that had drank all night, and no life, sparkles or passion left in his blue eyes._

" _You got drunk? Did you?" She asked him. "I'm used to the signs, as a Russian; I've seen my share of drunken men in taverns." She added. "Why did you drink?"_

_He lowered his sight, unable to face the reflection of his errors in her eyes, unable to face himself, his fears, his guilty conscience…But more so, unable to face his wife._

_He approached a nearby side table, while reaching for an envelope left in one of his jeans pockets, before lowering it on its top._

" _I wanted to forget. Alcohol makes you forget, Carolina." He replied._

" _You had nothing to forget, Klaus. You followed the clauses of our contract; it is me who did not." She replied, with a cold tone of voice, while closing her eyes under a too strong emergence of emotions, before reopening them and glancing at the envelope left on the table. "What is it? You're bringing me in front of lawyers for breaking the contract?"_

" _In the envelope you'll find plane tickets for you and your sister, you'll go back to Russia. Elijah will take care of the papers for the agency. There will be a bank account set at your name. It's so little…" He sighed loudly. "But, it's the only thing I can do … to help. You're free of me, Carolina." He concluded, before taking a few steps away from the table._

_Carolina approached the table, before reaching for the envelope and taking a look at the tickets and random papers in its inside. She suddenly tore the all content, with pieces of paper now falling on the wooden floor, under the shocked expression of Klaus._

" _But you won't be free of me, Klaus." She replied, while raising her chin at him, tears filling her eyes. "You wanted me as a wife; you'll have me as one, now."_

" _You don't want to be my wife, Carolina, I'm giving you a way out…Take it!" He lashed out at her, while passing a hand through his hair. "Leave … Start new, try to forget that this ever happened."_

" _I wanted …." She tried to explain, her voice cracking under the emotion, tears rolling on her cheeks. "I wanted to fall in love, the old fashion way, I wanted for a man to cherish me, to love me for me. I wanted the fairy tale version of books. But this is real life; this is not a romance level." She added, while passing the back of her right hand on her wet cheeks. "And then, this all contract of an arranged marriage between us was a wakeup call, I've realized that what I always dreamed of was not real in this world. That is why I have so much anger inside of me, and that I've taken my anger on you, that I've tried to trick you, foolishly and childishly, when in fact, you were the honest one between the two. You were presenting yourself as the imperfect man that you are, but at least you were honest about what you wanted from me. You've never sugar coated your intentions to me, I was the one being dishonest to you, and it is my dishonesty that brought me the pain that I'm feeling now."_

" _You don't want to stay here, by my side, Carolina. I'm a horrible man, too horrible for a pure and young woman life you. I've managed to shatter all your dreams in a time space of a few hours." Klaus replied, while pacing back and forth in the bedroom. "I've killed your beautiful smile, your spirit, your soul. I've taken, against your will, what you have kept intact for someone that would have been worth of loving you."_

" _In the real world, people become the most imperfect version of themselves, Klaus." She said, while shrugging her shoulders. "I know that because I had become the worst I've ever been, yesterday night, when I've tried to drug you."_

" _I wish you had succeeded, it would have been easier for both of us." Klaus sighed, while lowering his head, lost in a range of turmoil that he had never experienced in his hybrid life before._

" _Do you believe in love, Klaus?" She asked him, while taking the Original by surprise._

" _No, I don't." He murmured, while raising his teary sight in hers, before sighing loudly. "But you do, and you deserve to find it, somehow, somewhere in this world."_

" _No, I don't want to find it, because I don't believe in this fairy tale anymore." Caroline replied, while shrugging her shoulders. "So, why would I leave? Why would I expose myself to the outside world, when I know, now, the kind of world I've put myself into while being your wife?"_

" _You want me to hurt you again?" Klaus asked her, before taking a few walking steps to reach Carolina's standing position, while making her step away from him, with fear showing in her eyes. "You'll feel fear and disdain every time that you'll look at me. You'll be stuck in a loveless marriage with a man that you can't bare the idea of him touching your skin. Mark my words, Carolina, I'll hurt you again, if not physically it will be in the deepness of your soul." He replied with his sight lost in hers, jerky breaths raising his chest, before slowly detaching himself of Carolina's proximity. "I'll hate myself for eternity for what I've done to you, but at least knowing that you'll be away from me, will be a small consolation."_

" _You did not do anything more than what I did to myself." She replied. "I want to stay. I think we could reach a new agreement between us. I am not saying that I'll be able to have you touch me anytime soon. But, I could try." She mumbled, nervously, between her teeth._

" _Why would you put yourself willingly into this hell?" Klaus exclaimed, while grabbing his head with two hands, before turning his glance at her._

" _My sister… I think your brother is good for her." She replied._

" _But, I won't be good for you. You want to pay the price of this sacrifice for her?" Klaus sighed._

" _Wouldn't you want to sacrifice yourself for the happiness of your brother for once in your life?" Carolina asked, while taking him by surprise._

" _I've never thought of that." Klaus admitted, while shaking his head, before lowering his head, shamelessly._

" _Maybe it's time for you to start." She replied, before adding in a murmur. "Maybe it will be a way for you to show me that you are worth of my forgiveness."_

" _I won't make you happy." Klaus replied to her, while shaking his head._

" _But, my sister will be and that is enough for me." She answered him, while rubbing her hands nervously together. "We'll learn to be more honest to each other, with no more games from my part, and we'll learn slowly how to live together. With time, it will get easier."_

_Klaus nodded his head, while turning on himself to reach the entrance door of Carolina's suite._

" _Klaus?" Carolina called him, while walking on his heels._

" _Yes." He replied, before turning his head toward her standing position._

" _Thank you … For the ankle bracelet." She thanked him, while nodding her head._

_Klaus glanced at her surprisingly._

" _You found it?" He asked, dumbfounded._

" _Yes." She simply replied. "Is it true what you wrote, that … That you wouldn't' want to change who I am?" She asked._

" _Never…" He responded, honestly._

" _Then, it's a start." She replied, before seeing him turn the door handle. "Klaus?"_

_He turned his head once more._

" _Contrary to what you believe, and what I made you believe, it doesn't bother me to feel your hands on my skin." She confessed to him, before slowly closing the French doors of her bedroom._

_Klaus stood motionless and speechless for a few seconds, with his hands grabbing the door handle like his life depended on it. And, it is with a timid smile blessing the corners of his lips that he left Carolina's suite._


	10. Morning brunch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia** _

_Klaus nodded his head, while turning on himself to reach the entrance door of Carolina's suite._

" _Klaus?" Carolina called him, while walking on his heels._

" _Yes." He replied, before turning his head toward her standing position._

" _Thank you … For the ankle bracelet." She thanked him, while nodding her head._

_Klaus glanced at her surprisingly._

" _You found it?" He asked, dumbfounded._

" _Yes." She simply replied. "Is it true what you wrote, that … That you wouldn't' want to change who I am?" She asked._

" _Never…" He responded, honestly._

" _Then, it's a start." She replied, before seeing him turn the door handle. "Klaus?"_

_He turned his head once more._

" _Contrary to what you believe, and what I made you believe, it doesn't bother me to feel your hands on my skin." She confessed to him, before slowly closing the French doors of her bedroom._

_Klaus stood motionless and speechless, with his hands grabbing the door handle like his life depended on it. And, it is with a timid smile blessing the corners of his lips that he left Carolina's suite._

* * *

" _What time is it now?" Katerina asked Elijah, while nervously biting her nails, and pacing back and forth over the length of the carpet in his study room._

_Elijah raised an eyebrow, while sitting on the edge of his desktop, before raising the left sleeve of his man shirt over his expensive watch._

" _Thirty two seconds later since the last time you'd asked me." He replied to the brunette, while sighing._

" _I don't find this amusing, Elijah." She replied, while shaking her head and holding her pacing. She turned on herself to face the Original, before crossing her arms in front of her chest. Obviously, the young woman was in a serious and understandable confrontational mood and wouldn't relax before being able to get it out of her system._

" _I know, Katerina, believe me, I know." He responded, while stroking his eyelids. "I wouldn't try to diminish the seriousness of this situation, or neither one of our feelings about it; I'm just trying to ease the tension and to make you relax, if only for a short period of time." He informed her, with a timid smile. "I think it's the best way to act at the present moment." He nodded._

_She sighed loudly, before taking a sitting position on the desktop, by his side._

" _You always try your best to be right, aren't you?" She asked, while turning her sight in his dark eyes._

" _Well…" Elijah started, while drowning his sight into her blurry one. "I don't need to try hard, it's in my genes, I'm mostly, always right." He replied, while tilting his head._

" _Are you serious, or is it only to make me smile?" She asked, while frowning._

" _No, I'm serious.' He responded, without an ounce of mockery in the voice._

" _Oh my God… Elijah!" She exclaimed to herself, a mouth opened expression plastered on her face, before passing a hand through her tangled, long hair. "I've managed to marry a pretentious, pompous; I am always right, prehistoric man!" She added, while pulling on her hair with both hands._

" _I resent the pompous part!" Elijah replied, with a raised finger. "But it's pretty accurate for the rest." He confirmed to her, before lowering his head to hide his sudden amusement._

" _I'm not in the mood to laugh, Elijah, I'm sorry." She added, without even finding the strength to smile. "I just can't."_

" _Believe me, neither am I." He reassured her. "But I can't get over your four inches slippers and the pink, huge, pompom feathers on top that keep capturing all my attention, while calling my name: Elijah, Elijah… it's very disturbing actually, I am not into this fetish kind of stuff usually. And, I am wondering what is so fascinating to me, now, about these slippers?" He added, while crossing his arms over his chest, with his analytic sight fixated on her feet._

_The biggest smile suddenly appeared on Katerina's lips, while glancing at him._

" _You think it's sexy?" She asked, before raising her legs, while looking at the slippers._

" _Well, I don't know, Katerina? It's probably sold in sexy lingerie boutiques, in the purpose of seducing a man, no?" He asked, while shrugging his shoulders and pointing his right hand at her feet._

" _Is it seducing you, now?" She asked, while holding her breath, her eyes searching the answer in his intense and dark ones._

" _You're sitting on my desktop." Elijah responded, while swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _Oh?" She questioned, while blushing and moving her bottom nervously. "I wasn't aware that it was forbidden?"_

" _Forbidden? No … But, you're the first woman that I can tolerate her "touchy" presence on my desktop." He informed, while slowly bending his head near hers, before sliding a strand of her silky hair behind her left ear and slowly murmuring the words near Katerina's earlobe. "You're sitting on my desktop, and that for me is sexy."_

_Katerina closed her eyes, with the beats of her heart rising dangerously in her chest, and while feeling the pressure of Elijah's lips on hers, like the soft touch of a butterfly. But as soon as she felt the kiss, as soon it was cut to an end._

" _Mister Mikaelson?" They heard Maria calling._

_Elijah detached himself from his wife, before discreetly coughing and raising his head toward his governess. Katherina raised a hand over her mouth while keeping her sight down._

" _Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't aware that your wife was present in the study room. Mrs. Katherine." She greeted, while nodding her head in respect._

" _Maria." Katerina replied; while recognizing the subtly change of first name._

" _What is it, Maria?" Elijah asked her._

" _I wanted to keep you informed that Mrs. Caroline will be present in the dining room in about ten minutes." She gave the information, with a smile blessing his lips._

_Katerina jumped away from her sitting position on the desktop, before nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _Are you sure, Maria, are you absolutely sure that she'd said those words to you?" Katerina asked, frantically. "She will stay in this Manor and be present at the brunch?"_

" _Yes" Maria responded, dumbfounded. "I'm quite sure; she just informed me not even five minutes ago, is there a problem?" She enquired, while turning her sight from Katerina to Elijah._

" _And her …" Katerina started, before closing her eyes and sighing loudly. "And my husband's brother?" She asked more, while closing her fists in anger._

" _Mister Klaus informed me that he would be present at his wife side." Maria replied, confused by the present exchange, but while starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together._

" _Where is she now?" Katerina asked, with anticipation._

" _Her own suite I believe, Madam." Maria informed._

_Katerina stormed out of the office while slamming the door behind her._

" _I'm so sorry if I misbehave in any way that could create such distress, Mister Mikaelson." Maria offered her apologies._

" _None sense, you did not, Maria. It's just a difficult morning." Elijah replied, while stroking his eyelids once more, and raising on his legs._

" _I see." Maria replied, while lowering her head._

" _You do, aren't you?" Elijah sighed._

" _Well, it shouldn't be of my business, but … I believe that there is always the hope of seeing a glimpse of a rainbow after a storm of this amplitude?" She tried to comfort the oldest, a timid smile blessing her lips._

" _Perhaps you're right, Maria…" Elijah responded to her. "Perhaps…"_

* * *

_Katerina stormed inside Carolina's suite, while scattering the lounge area, before holding her pace in the middle of the room, frozen of all her mobility, as an empty shelve, with a hand raised over her chest, and her eyes drown in the ones of her younger sister._

_Carolina stepped outside of her bedroom, when she suddenly raised her eyes in her sister's, sad and painful reminder of last night events and how twisted and disappointing life could become in a snap of a finger, while dragging you into the mud several hours later._

" _Carolina, I'm so sorry …" Katerina whispered the words, tears rolling on her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, this shouldn't have happened."_

_The youngest Russian closed her eyes while feeling a veil of coldness wrapping her entire corporal form. It was more than obvious that she was now aware of her wedding night and seeing the sadness in her older sister eyes was more painful than enduring her own._

" _There's nothing for you to be sorry about, Katerina." She finally responded, while reopening her blurry eyes, before strengthening her back, with her hands crossed over her chest._

_Katerina rushed by Carolina's side, before holding her sister in her arms._

" _I'm here, it's going to be ok, if you want to leave now, Elijah could prepare the plane tickets, and we could be in our way back to Moscow tomorrow." Katerina murmured to her, both hands placed at the base of Carolina's neck, while rocking her sister in her arms._

" _Why would I want to leave?" Carolina asked, while standing motionless in her sister's arms. "This manor is my home now."_

_Katerina suddenly detached herself from her sister, while drowning her sight in hers._

" _You want to stay? You want to stay married to a man who …" Katerina expressed, surprised, before being cut in her say._

" _Don't!" Carolina warned her sister, while raising a forbidden finger at her. "Don't put your nose where it doesn't belong, Katerina."_

" _I'm sorry?" Katerina exclaimed, dumbfounded by her sister present attitude._

" _Things happen; it is called real life, my sister." Carolina shrugged, while taking a few steps away from her sister. "I believe we have a brunch to go to?"_

" _You're in denial." Katerina murmured, before raising a hand over her mouth._

" _No, Katerina, I'm actually for the first time of my life standing with my eyes wide opened." Carolina replied._

" _It's my entire fault; I shouldn't have obliged you to enroll in this marital agency." She apologized, while shaking her head. "I thought it would give you a chance to start new and better in life, but, you are into no obligation after last night event, to stay here."_

" _I'd married a man for better or worse, Katerina. I've believe I've simply known the worst before a little bit of better, now I don't want to talk about it anymore, I would gladly appreciate if you could hold your peace about it yourself."_

_Katerina stood frozen and speechless in front of this blonde, young woman that she was not able to recognize as her own sister._

" _Ok, I guess it will take you a couple of days to regain your normal way of thinking, I'll wait, and in the meantime I'll stay with you in your suit." She addressed this solution to Carolina._

" _No, Katerina, in the meantime you'll stay with_ **your** _husband, and I'll stay with_ **mine** _." Carolina stood on her position._

" _It's a pay back, isn't it?" Katerina mumbled the words, with a teary voice._

" _No, oh God, no …" Caroline replied, while taking a few steps toward her older sister, before holding her face with two hands. "I love you sister, but I need to live my life now, how complicated it has suddenly become, as nothing to do with you." She tried to explain. "You did nothing wrong, but wanting the best for me. And I wish for the same for you." She added, before taking a big breath. "I made one single mistake, I was in the wrong of not telling you that I wasn't interested in marrying a man that I knew nothing about, and I was in the wrong of not telling the same man the same thing. But, now, I've accepted my faith."_

" _You did nothing wrong… Nothing…." Katerina cried out the words. "But, your husband … He hurt my little sister."_

" _He made a mistake, he's human." Caroline replied, while swallowing a lump in her throat, before lowering her hands. "I'm willing to give him a single chance to regain my trust." She added, while turning her back, before closing her eyes and sighing loudly. "Now can we stop talking about this, I believe, that both my husband and I, we are more than this single event that happened in our life?" She concluded, before walking toward the entrance of her suite. "I'll see you in the dining room, I am famished. I hope Maria made chocolate rolls?"_

_Katerina saw the door of the suite being closed on its panel, before slowly letting her body fall on the suite carpet, her head buried in her hands._

* * *

_Maria entered the dining room, while carrying two silver platters filled with croissants, scones and muffins, before placing the food on the beautiful white silk tablecloth. She suddenly startled at the view of Carolina who was sitting at the far end, alone, on one of the chairs._

" _Oh Miss Carolina, you've startled me, you're already here as I can see." Maria exclaimed, with a motherly smile plastered on her lips._

" _You want me to help you?" Carolina asked, while rising on her feet._

" _What? No, none sense, I'm perfectly able to carry two plates, don't worry about me…Sit, sit, please." Maria asked her, with a hand gesture._

_Carolina took her sitting position back on her chair, with a timid smile blessing her lips._

" _Chocolate rolls, my child?" Maria asked, while blinking an eye at her, before handing the plate where a few of the said rolls were placed. "My lips are sealed; I won't tell that you took one before the others."_

_Carolina nodded her head, while raising the corners of her lips into a bigger smile._

" _Thank you." She replied, while grabbing one before taking a big bite into the fresh bread._

" _It's the favorite of your husband also." Maria added, while keeping the corners of her eyes on the young bride._

" _You don't say." Carolina replied, while lowering her food on the porcelain plate, before losing her smile and appetite._

" _The first days of a marriage are never as easy as it looks for a young bride, even more so when this is an arranged marriage." Maria said, while approaching the young woman, before sliding both of her hands on the frail shoulders of Carolina. "I don't remember much about my years as a young woman, but I do remember this, my mother used to say to me: Dear Lord, I pray for the wisdom to understand a man, I pray for the patience within myself to forgive him, and finally I pray for him to love me the way I will learn to love him."_

_Carolina closed her eyes, before feeling tears filling her eyelids._

" _I'm more than a governess with an apron at hands, if you want to talk; I'm here for you, my child." She added, before walking toward the entrance door of the majestic dining room._

" _Maria?" She heard the voice calling._

" _Yes?" The governess replied, before turning her head toward Carolina._

" _Thank you." The young Russian murmured._

" _You're welcome." Maria replied, a smile blessing her lips._

* * *

_Klaus gulped the bottom of his glass of whisky, while trying to find the strength to pass through this unbearable brunch ahead of him, before suddenly hearing the shrill sound of high heels hitting the marble floor. He closed his eyes while being aware of the bad karma that would soon come like a boomerang at him. He lowered the glass on the console table, before turning on himself, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat._

_Katerina reached his standing position in the parlor room, before slapping his face, twice, soon followed by a good punch of her closed right fist on his jaw and an additional one, near his right eye._

_Klaus lose his balance, before bumping on one of the armchairs._

" _Bastard…" Katerina yelled, before rubbing her swollen hand. "If you do this to my sister ever again, I swear I'll kill you myself!"_

_Klaus raised his sight in the one of the brunette, his right hand wiping the trickle of blood from his opened bottom lip._

_He nodded his head in approval to her, before strengthening his upper body._

" _You don't even have the decency to excuse your pathetic self of your despicable act?" Katerina lashed out._

" _The beast that I am doesn't deserve any empathy, why would I present them?" He responded, while reaching the bar, before pouring himself another glass._

" _You got that right, you don't deserve anything!" She yelled more, while pointing an accusatory finger at him. "And you are certainly not deserving of my sister as a wife."_

" _It's duly noted, Katerina." He replied to her, before gulping the amber liquid, lowering the glass on the bar, and turning himself to face his wife's sister. "You think I don't already know how much of a low life jerk I am? Believe me I've treated myself worse than you could ever try."_

" _I doubt that!" Katerina responded, while raising her chin._

_They stared at each other for a few minute of unbearable silence, their mutual chest rising under their jerky breaths._

" _If it would have been me, believe that I would have been able to handle the kind of pathetic man that you are. I've dealt with your kind all my life." Katerina added, before shaking her head. "But it is Carolina, she was innocent, pure, she had no idea what life could be made of. And innocently myself, I never thought that she would be put one day, in the middle of this kind of situation. And it's me who put her there. So, I am as much to blame as you are."_

" _I doubt that!" Klaus responded, while lowering his head. "Believe me, I've tried to repay my debt by offering a way out to her freedom, but she refused."_

" _Nothing that you will ever do, will repay it, nothing!" Katerina exclaimed, angrier than ever._

" _Then I'll find another way!" Klaus yelled himself. "And I won't rest until she'll be free of me." He added, while hitting his chest with his closed right fist._

" _Then I wish that God will help you, Klaus. Sooner you'll be out of her life, sooner she'll be able to regain her self-esteem." Katerina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth, before turning on her heels, and leaving the parlor room._

* * *

" _Well, everything certainly look delicious, Maria, my respect to the chef." Elijah thanked his governess, while placing a red napkin on his lap, while trying to ease the tensed atmosphere felt in the room. He rapidly glanced at both his brother's and wife's injuries, from the corners of his eyes. Obviously, the two of them had a confrontation earlier._

" _Thank you, Mister Mikaelson." Maria responded, while nodding her head with respect, before discreetly handing one pack of ice cubes to Katerina and one to Klaus, for both of their injuries. "Keep it on your hand for a good hour, Mrs. Katherine." She murmured near Katerina's right ear, to which the young Russian nodded, while blushing, and avoiding Elijah's glance._

" _What is this brunch about, Elijah?" Klaus growled, with annoyance. "Please, reassure me, because I already fear the worst with the extra plates placed on the table."_

" _Something that we can't avoid any longer, Niklaus, even if we wish to avoid it." Elijah replied, while rolling his eyes and sighing loudly._

_Maria directed her walk toward Carolina, while carrying a warm silver pot of coffee, before asking:_

" _Would you wish for coffee or tea, Madam?"_

" _Coffee will be fine, thank you Maria." She replied, keeping her sight on the table, while nervously rubbing her hands under the tablecloth. Klaus was sitting in a too close proximity of hers, so close that she couldn't even breathe at the moment. And the reason of her nervousness was that she couldn't figure out if this was because of her remaining fear, repulsion or other unanswered feelings within herself that she was not able or ready to admit yet?_

_Maria grabbed Carolina's porcelain cup before pouring the hot beverage, with this single sound to fill the awkward silence of the room._

" _Oh! What a lovely ankle bracelet, Madam, with each letter of your name as charms." Maria exclaimed, while smiling and focusing her attention on the jewelry._

_Klaus startled at the governess say, with the utmost surprise, before lowering his sight on Carolina's ankle, his eyes meeting the one of his wife a second later._

_Carolina kept her sight locked with the blue one of her husband for a few seconds, feeling the heartbeats of her heart rising dangerously in her chest, before lowering her eyes on the table, and blushing._

" _It's a wedding gift." She managed to whisper, while suddenly raising her sight in front of her, before noticing her sister surprised expression._

" _Elijah? What is this gathering all about?" Klaus asked, once more, before crossing his arms in front of his chest._

_Elijah raised his shirt sleeve while glancing at his watch._

" _Five, four, three, two, one …." He counted, under the dumbfounded and speechless expression of both of the sisters and his brother._

" _My best greetings brothers and new stepsisters!" They all heard an enthusiastic male voice, before turning their sights toward a smiling young man that was standing over the threshold of the dining room, with an opened arms gesture directed at all of them. "Who will be the first to give me a kiss?"_

" _I never thought I would be happy to hear Kol's voice." Elijah murmured to himself, while stroking his eyelids, and shaking his head in disbelief._

" _You could have told me?" Klaus whispered, angrily, to his older brother, while bending his upper body over the table._

" _Believe me, Niklaus, if I had found the time in between the drama, I would have told you." Elijah replied, while mumbling the words between his teeth._

_Carolina turned her wondering sight toward her husband, with much interrogation left in her eyes._

" _He's my brother?" Klaus informed her, while understanding her silent question._

" _But, Elijah?" She replied, surprised, while pointing a finger toward the oldest._

" _This one is my other brother, the annoying youngest." Klaus explained, rapidly._

" _Let me introduce myself, I'm Kol Mikaelson, a savior, a charmer, and most of all, a lover." Kol presented himself, while raising a hand of honor over his chest._

" _Oh, God, help us all!" Elijah whispered._

" _And he is soon to be dead!" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _And who are those lovely ladies?" Kol asked, smiling and happy like a chaffinch, while approaching the table, before sliding his jacket on the back of one of the remaining dinning chair. "So what do we have here, a blonde bombshell and a sexy brunette, cleaver you two!" He added, while pointing a finger at both of his older brothers. "Maria, as always such a pleasure to see such beauty in front of my sight, I'm waiting for my kiss?" He addressed himself to the governess while presenting his left cheek._

" _Mister Mikalson?" Maria begged her employer from the corners of her eyes to help her. "This is highly none appropriate?"_

" _Kol" Elijah warned, while drowning his narrowed sight in the one of the youngest._

" _Yes, I know, Elijah… I'm sorry, Maria." Kol apologize, while lowering his sight, before taking his sitting place at the table._

" _No harm done, Mister Kol, do you wish for coffee or tea?" Maria asked him, while blushing._

" _Coffee will be fine." He replied to the governess. "So, the brunette is Klaus's wife and the blonde is Elijah's?" He guessed, smirking. "That would explain Niklaus's black eye, and your injured hand, darling." He added, while winking at Katerina. "Such fire in the first days of your marital life together, I like it!" He commented, while rubbing his hands together._

" _Did you notice that I still have one uninjured hand that could serve me right?" Katerina responded to the young man, with a friendly warning._

" _Oh, she got spunks! I like you already!" Kol exclaimed, while hugging Katerina shoulders. "Good choice, Klaus!" He added, with a thumb up._

" _Kol, Katerina is my wife, Carolina is Niklaus's." Elijah responded, from the tips of his lips. "For security purposes they have been both renamed Katherine and Caroline."_

" _Are you serious? This one is yours?" Kol laughed. "Well, she will certainly bring fire into your life and bed, grandpa!" He added, smirking at Elijah. "So the little blonde is with Klaus, then? She looks a bit stuck and pretentious, no?"_

" _Well I'm sure it's nothing that my knee could not change while soon come into contact with a certain part of your anatomy!" Carolina replied, slyly, with a faked smile._

_Elijah spit his coffee on the table, coughing his way through Carolina answer, while Katerina lowered her head to hide her amusement in her own cup. That was the sister she could recognize and love. Klaus suddenly turned his head toward his wife to take a quick glance at her, with a gleam of proudness in his sight._

" _Ouch!" Kol replied. "Directly into my heart, Carolina, I'm deeply hurt now, but, I'm willing to give you another chance, dear stepsister." He added, smiling, while pointing a finger at her. "You see, I'm suddenly depressed. It feels like I'm the only man around this table that did not find his soul mate yet, which is really disturbing." He mocked, before grabbing a slice of fresh bread, and spreading a bit of jam on it._

" _Kol, there's still a couple of bars in the city that did not see your ass in their establishments, yet, if you are interested to find the love of your life of course?" Klaus snapped, sarcastically. "I'm sure that you could find suitable ladies there? Of course, you need to pay them enough money for them to endure your presence."_

" _Brother, are you trying to bond with me with sarcasm, just now?" Kol asked, while taking a big bite of his slice of bread. "Because, you see, it feels like a bounding moment between us, I just want to be reassured that it is?"_

" _My fist hitting your jaw could be considered as a bounding moment, are you interested?" Klaus replied, smirking._

" _Well, don't worry Kol, it couldn't be worst then both of our older brothers taking the service of a Russian marital agency to find two women to stand by their sides as wives could it?" They all heard a snappy, feminine voice exclaimed from the dining room entrance. "My deepest sympathies offered to both women, by the way."_

* * *

_An awkward silence filled the air of the main dinning room for a few remaining minutes, soon interrupted by the arrival of Stefan Salvatore, who stood immobile by the blonde woman side._

" _Why do I have the deep feeling that you've already opened your big mouth, Rebekah?" He murmured, near her right ear, while feeling the awkwardness of their present arrival._

" _I don't know what you're talking about?" Rebekah shrugged her shoulders, while entering the dining room._

" _Katerina, Carolina, let me present to you, our youngest sister, Rebekah." Elijah presented, while dropping his napkin on the table, before crossing his arms in front of his chest, and narrowing his sight on Rebekah. "Rebekah if you are here, at this brunch to disrespect my rules and the people present under my roof, you can take the door as of now." He warned her, before adding. "And by the way, who we have decided to marry is none of yours or Kol's business. Am I clear?"_

" _Don't be such a fuss, Elijah." Rebekah exclaimed, before taking her sitting position at the table, with Kol placed at her left. "After all, we should feel deeply hurt to not have been invited at both of your weddings, when was that exactly?" She asked, perniciously._

" _I don't recall." Elijah replied, tit for tat, before seeing his childish sister pull her tongue at him._

" _How many of them are there still?" Katerina asked Elijah, while bending her upper body near him._

_Elijah smirked at his wife, before caressing her left cheek with the back of his right hand._

" _It's the last of the remaining living ones, I swear to you." Elijah confirmed to her._

" _There is a God!" Katerina whispered more, while rolling her eyes._

_Stefan finally stepped into the dining room, before greeting the brides with bouquets of fresh flowers._

" _These are for you, beautiful. Congratulations on your wedding day." He presented a bouquet of white roses to Carolina, under the sound of grunts of his friend Klaus, whose thermometer of jealousy was reaching its highest point._

" _You're licking ass now, Salvatore?" Kol exclaimed, while pointing a hand at Stefan._

" _Kol, watch your tongue!" Elijah warned._

" _But Elijah, I swear he's going to make me puke my breakfast on the table."_

" _Not my fault, if you have no manners, Mikaelson!" Stefan replied to the youngest Mikaelson brother._

" _Thank you, Stefan." Carolina replied, while holding her laughter, before taking the bouquet in her hands._

" _I did not bring any for you, Klaus, you forgive me don't you?" Stefan mocked his friend, while smirking at him, and grabbing his shoulders in a friendly hug._

" _I would have made you swallow them, Salvatore!" Klaus replied, gruffly. "And not the way you think."_

" _Klaus, watch your tongue!" Elijah repeated._

" _Is he always this unhappy and grumpy in the morning?" Stefan asked, while winking at Carolina, before walking toward the other side of the table. "And these are for you gorgeous." He offered the second bouquet of red roses to Katerina, while handing his hand to her. "I believe I did not have the pleasure, Stefan Salvatore, I'm one of … No, actually, let me rephrase, I'm the only friend of Klaus."_

" _My sympathies offered to you, then." Katerina replied, slyly, to him._

" _I like your sister already, Carolina." Stefan replied, smiling, before taking his sitting position, at the right of Rebekah's. "Elijah, you got yourself a fearless wife, I approve."_

" _Thank you, Stefan." Elijah replied, while rolling his eyes._

" _So, how much do they pay you to marry them?" Rebekah asked, as burned doublet._

" _Rebekah!" Elijah warned her, while pronouncing her name._

" _What? It's a legitimate question, Elijah?" His sister responded, while shrugging her shoulders._

" _I prefer you to her, now." Carolina suddenly murmured to Kol, while narrowing her sight at Rebekah._

" _See!" Kol replied, while pointing a finger at Carolina. "I knew you would eventually come to your senses. I'm so loveable." He added, while winking at her._

" _I still don't!" Katerina said, mockingly, while shaking her head._

" _It's because of your kick boxing session with Klaus, this morning. You're still under the rage effect." Kol added, while serving himself a plate of scrambled eggs._

" _You did that?" Rebekha asked Katerina, while pointing with her knife, the black eye and injured jaw of Klaus. "What did my brother do this time to deserve this, not that I am complaining?"_

_Katerina raised her sight in the one of her sister, who discreetly shook her head, while begging her with a worrying look to keep this private event under silence. Then, she turned her glance into the one of Klaus, who kept impassive, he would obviously take any faith thrown at him for his wrongs, you needed to give this single quality to the guy._

" _Yes, I did that." She finally responded, without giving any further explanation to Klaus's sister._

" _I'm impressed. If you keep this up…" Rebekah informed the oldest sister, while pointing a finger at her. "There's maybe a chance that we could become friend in the future?"_

" _I doubt that." Both Katerina and Carolina exclaimed at the same time, before having the all table burst into laughter at their mutual, synchronized say._

" _It's not funny!" Rebekah exclaimed, infuriated. "I'm so beautiful and perfect that it's barely impossible for me to have any female friends." She whined, while pouting._

" _You know why, sister dearest?" Klaus responded. "It's because there is no mute option that comes with your beautiful package." He added, while trickling another round of laughter._

" _It's still not funny!" Rebekah mumbled angrily between her teeth, getting cut in the moment, while throwing a bread bun at Klaus's head, before busting into laughter herself._

_Maria took the bouquets of flowers from Carolina's and Katerina's hands, before reaching Elijah sitting position at the far end of the table, sliding a friendly hand on his right should, before lowering her head near him._

" _Considering, Mister Mikaelson, this brunch went better than expected." She addressed him a smile, while murmuring the words._

" _Bless your soul and mine, Maria, for this unexpected gift of life." He responded, while winking at her._

* * *

_Carolina faced the fireplace, while sitting in the leather sofa, her feet comfortably tuck under her thighs, with her sight lost in the flames of the opened fire. Her mind and thoughts closed to the exterior world, when she suddenly heard a discreet cough._

_She turned her head, while seeing Elijah standing under the arch door, with his hands buried in his pants pockets, a timid smile blessing his lips._

" _Good evening, Carolina." He greeted her._

" _Good evening, I'm sorry, if you want me to leave, and be left alone in this room, just ask?" She inquired, while blushing and suddenly strengthening her upper body._

" _Of course not, Carolina, don't you move a muscle and please stay, would you?" Elijah replied, before closing the door of the parlor room behind him, and walking toward her. "This Manor is to be considered your home now; therefore, you can be in any room that pleases you."_

" _Thank you." She replied, politely._

" _I was thinking of pouring myself a night cap, would you care to join me for one, perhaps?" He politely asked, while raising the sleeves of his man shirt on his forearms, and directing his walk toward the bar._

" _Eh… Sure, what do you suggest?" She asked, with a timid smile._

" _It's a secret bottle, don't you dare telling anyone of its emplacement. Your taste buds won't ever touch this marvel ever again…Well, not after tonight that is." He informed the young woman, sarcastically, before putting a finger on his lips, as a silence gesture._

_He grabbed a key, before pushing a painting on the wall, and opening a secret panel, from where he pulled a bottle, before pouring two glasses from it._

" _1922, it cost me a fortune!" He smiled, while approaching Carolina and handing a glass to her, before taking his sitting position on a leather armchair, near the sofa._

" _Mm…." She tasted, surprised by the richness of the alcohol. "It's very good."_

" _I've told you." He replied, smiling. "I have certain knowledge in old and reckless." He mocked, while winking an eye at her._

" _My lips are sealed." She nodded, smiling._

" _I appreciate the gesture." He nodded himself, while drowning his sight in the fireplace. "You mind if I smoke?"_

" _Not at all…" She replied to him, while sipping the delicious alcohol._

_Elijah lighted up a cigar, before taking his first puff, and lowering his back on the arm chair, his sight lost in the flames of the fire._

_They sat silently, lost in their own thoughts for a few minutes, before Elijah finally broke the comforting silence between them._

" _My biggest apologies for my siblings' impertinence, I've tried to muzzle them a long time ago, but they refused categorically to wear the harness." He informed Carolina, sarcastically._

" _You're speaking of which one of your siblings, Kol, Rebekah, or … Klaus?" She replied, tit for tat._

" _And you threw an arrow directly into the heart … That is "Touché", my dear." He replied, smirking._

_Another silence filled the parlor room, only disturbed by crackle of lobs._

" _He's not necessarily as vain, arrogant and heartless as he seems to be, you know?" Elijah said, with a more serious tone of voice, while sipping his glass and keeping his sight in the fire._

" _You're his brother; I'm not expecting you to not love Klaus or to stop defending him." Carolina replied, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat._

" _That is where you're wrong; I oftentimes was completely against him and his own way of dealing with life." Elijah replied. "I'm a man of honor and integrity, two qualities that Klaus seems to have forgotten in his life."_

_Carolina turned her head to glance at Elijah, before biting her bottom lip, while trying her hardest to forbid herself to ask the question, but without being able to resist._

" _Why has he become what he is now?" She whispered the words._

_Elijah sighed, before turning his sight in the one of his stepsister._

" _Main reason was that he always thought that he was an unwanted child." Elijah responded, while bending his head._

" _I don't understand? The normal siblings bickering that I've witnessed aside, you seem to love him, Elijah?" Carolina asked, questioning the issue in her head._

" _There actually no doubt about it, my dear, I do love him, and oftentimes against my good judgement." He replied, before adding. "Klaus was conceived outside the wedlock." Elijah informed her. "But, please don't take this information against him, though it would probably be the rightful lethal harm to use if you wanted to hurt him one day."_

" _I wouldn't do that." Carolina shook her head. "Was it your mother or your father?"_

" _My mother actually, she had an affair and Klaus became the illegitimate child. My biological father accepted my mother indiscretion under false pretention and by ricochet Klaus always felt rejected all his life." Elijah informed her. "Oftentimes, it doesn't excuse his behavior in any way, Carolina, but it explains the man he has become."_

" _He thinks he's been rejected all his life." She mumbled the words, between her teeth. "Therefore, he takes what he wants with the assurance to not be rejected first hands ever again."_

" _You could say something in those kind words." Elijah replied, agreeing, while nodding his head._

" _You'll be good for my sister, Elijah, I'm happy about that." Carolina said, openly and unexpectedly, while smiling and surprising him by her admission. "Why do you think it works so well between the two of you?"_

_Elijah turned his sight in the one of Carolina in surprise, before shaking his head._

" _Well…I don't know, we seem to understand each other from the start, I suppose. We established our boundaries, and we know that our past has nothing to do with the present situation of our marriage, and we are leading ourselves into the future with wide, opened eyes." He replied, honestly, while shrugging his shoulders._

" _You're old also, it must help." Carolina added, while shrugging her shoulders, before suddenly blushing while realizing her say. "Oh no, no… I didn't mean any disrespect, I meant…You're both older, and …" She tried to swim against current because of her wrong say, while blushing intensively._

_Elijah smirked, amused, before rising on his legs and taking from her hands the empty glass she was holding._

" _Next time, Carolina, be assured that I won't offer you a drink from my special bottle." He warned her, unserious, while smirking and pointing a forbidden finger at her._

" _But I know where your special bottle is now, Elijah." Carolina replied, smiling._

" _That my dear…" He started, while putting the bottle back in its hiding place. "It's because I wanted you to know. I'll leave you to your evening." He added, before directing his walk toward the door. "It was nice talking to you."_

" _Elijah?" Carolina called._

" _Yes, Carolina?" He replied, before turning his glance toward her._

" _Thank you." She nodded. "I mean for the talk and the "special" drink."_

" _You're welcome." He answered her, before adding. "You're a strong woman, Carolina… Just know that underneath my brother rough exterior and incessant wrongs, he is not as bad as he wants you to think." He concluded, before leaving the room._

* * *

_Carolina paced back and forth in Klaus's bedroom suite, while nervously rubbing her hands together. The night had finally lowered his dark curtains over the city, and it's with nervous anticipation that she was waiting for her husband arrival._

_She heard the suite entrance door being opened and closed on its arch, before hearing the synchronized sounds of his walking steps hitting the marble floor and finally reaching the bedroom. He stood motionless over the threshold, while startling at her view._

" _I couldn't tell … I mean…" She started, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I wasn't sure of what you expected of me." She mumbled, nervously. "Do you want me to sleep in my suite, or for me to sleep by your side in yours?"_

_Klaus lowered his head away from his wife sight, while closing his eyes, and sighing loudly, before suddenly directing his walk toward the opened walk-in._

" _It makes no difference to me, do as you wish, Carolina." He replied, in front of her speechless expression, while feeling her presence behind his back. "The two suites are available to you now, they are yours."_

" _What do you mean they are mine?" Carolina asked him, nervously, while seeing him pulled a backpack from one of the walk-in closet shelves._

" _It's exactly what it means; I won't be present in either one of them, therefore both suites are yours." He responded, while dropping several pieces of clothes in the backpack._

" _You're leaving … You're leaving me?" She mumbled the words, in shock._

" _Yes" He responded to her. "It will give you the time to ponder your life, and start new when you will be ready, without having to endure me by your side." He added, while closing the backpack._

" _You're a coward!" She lashed out at him, while closing her fists in anger._

" _I've been called worst the last twenty-four hours and rightly so." He replied to her, while putting the backpack on his right shoulder, before grabbing his leather jacket on a near hook, and stepping away from her._

" _Don't turn your back on me!" She yelled more, while pointing an accusatory finger at him. "Not, when I am the only one willing to give you a chance."_

_Klaus hold his pace, while frowning and closing his fists in anger, anger directed entirely toward himself._

" _Don't waste your time on me, Carolina, I'm not deserving of that chance." He responded to her._

" _Why?" She asked, under her jerky breaths._

_He turned on himself, abruptly dropping his backpack and leather jacket on the wooden floor, before rushing by her side, his upper body bending on hers, his upper arms placed on each side of her head on the wall._

_Carolina startled with fear, while gluing her body on the wall placed behind her back, her chest rising rapidly under her rapid breathing._

" _This is why." He whispered to her, his sight lost in Carolina's. "I'm not even touching you right now that you are already shivering with fears and disdain." He explained. "You're disgusted by my sight and it shows."_

" _Don't put words into my mouth." She murmured to him, while raising her chin before lowering her sight on his mouth._

" _Kiss me then?" He asked her, unexpectedly. "Prove it to me."_

" _What?" She mumbled the word._

" _It shouldn't be too difficult?" He added, his heavy breaths caressing her lips._

" _I…" She tried to explain, while losing all coherent thoughts in her mind._

" _Yes, that is what I thought…" Klaus replied, before detaching himself from Carolina._

_She retained him by grabbing his right forearm, before rising on her tip toes, her arms suddenly wrapped around his neck, her hands grabbing the hair on the base of his neck, helping her to keep her balance, before sliding her trembling lips on his._

_Klaus kept his eyes opened, his lips kept closed, motionless, emotionless, and hard as rock, before feeling her tears rolling on her cheeks, under the effort given to act against her will._

" _I can't…" She apologized, under her intense sobbing._

_He detached her hands from his neck, before gently pushing her away from him._

" _I know…" He replied, before bending his body to grab his bag and leather jacket. "That is why I'm leaving, Carolina." He added, before storming out of his own suite._

* * *

" _Niklaus… NIKLAUS!" Elijah yelled repeatedly, before raising his voice to retain his brother, while walking on Klaus's heels in the corridor leading into the Manor's garage. "When I am calling your name, at least have the decency to respond to me!"_

" _What now, Elijah?" Klaus asked, leading his way to the garage, while walking toward his Harley motorcycle. He pushed the remote control to open the door to the outside world of the England winter, before opening the backseat luggage compartment to drop his backpack in it._

" _Your wife Carolina, you do remember her, do you?" Elijah mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while pacing back and forth on the cement floor. "Haven't you done enough damage, already?"_

" _Yes, I actually do remember her, brother." Klaus responded, while grabbing his helmet before placing it on his head. "It's because I remember her that I'll give her the necessary space to finally help her make the right decision to leave me."_

" _It is winter out there; you're going to ride your Harley in the winter time?" Elijah asked, while angrily gesturing with his arms._

" _I need the fresh air." Klaus responded._

" _Fuck!" Elijah mumbled, while passing a hand through his hair, angrier than ever._

" _Don't worry I won't die if I catch a cold, immortal and all." Klaus added, slyly. "And that is a very bad word, you've just said; I'm starting to rub off on you."_

" _You won't even fight for her. And, you won't even fight to regain your dignity." Elijah yelled. "What kind of a man are you, Niklaus?"_

_Klaus got on his bike, while revving the engine._

" _The worst you could find, Elijah." He responded, while lowering the visor on his sight. "I thought you knew that already?"_

" _You'll run away selfishly while leaving behind you, probably the only woman able to accept your wrongs and to grant you a second chance?" Elijah sighed, with discouragement._

" _Actually, Elijah, this … Right here, right now … It's the least selfish I've ever been in all my life, and it's all for her." Klaus responded, before leaving the garage on grinding wheel sound._

" _Damn you Niklaus!" Elijah mumbled, between his teeth, before closing his eyes and sighing loudly, while being left alone with his angry thoughts in mind._

* * *

_A few light flakes started their descent from the night sky, while covering the streets of London of a thin white coat of snow. Carolina was standing in front of Klaus's bedroom window, while lowering her sight on the front gate of the Manor._

_The motorcycle suddenly stopped in front of the gate; with the noise of the engine suddenly dying and leaving the silence only to fill the obscurity of the night. Klaus turned his sight toward the Manor, before raising a rapid glance toward his bedroom. "She" was standing in front of the window, with her sight fixated on him. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, before restarting the engine of the motorcycle, opening the brass doors of the gate, and finally leaving the premises._

_Carolina let one single tear running down her left cheek, before closing her eyes, and raising her shaking right hand to wipe it away._

_Klaus Mikaelson, her husband, had left her … And probably for good …_

* * *

_Elijah entered his suite, while sighing loudly and closing his eyes under an intense tiredness, before pushing the door on its arch. There was no need to inform Katerina as of tonight, of Klaus's sudden departure._

_He directed his walking steps toward the bedroom, before noticing Katerina silhouette in front of the window. She was standing in the dark, with the rays of the moon illuminating the curves of her body through the transparent white fabric of her nightgown. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat at her magnificent view._

_She finally turned on herself, while facing him, her sight lost in her husband's, before sensually pushing the straps of her nightgown on her upper arms, the sumptuous fabric sliding on her naked body, before landing on her feet, a second later._

_Elijah took a deep breath, while approaching his wife standing position, his stare kept in hers, before slowly raising the back of his hands on the length of her arms. She closed her eyes under the intense range of shivers and pleasure hitting her spine, all at once, with her heartbeats increasing dangerously in her chest, under a rising rage or breaths._

_Elijah closed his eyes, before bending his head near hers to softly kiss her forehead._

" _You're so beautiful." He murmured, under the same intense emotions, while caressing the crucible of her shoulders. "And you are standing in front of me barefoot?" He mocked, gently._

" _You're only noticing my feet?" She murmured, out of breath._

" _Believe me, Katerina, I've noticed all that you have offered to my sight." He replied, softly, while kneeling at her feet, before slowly raising the fabric of the nightgown back on her shivering and naked body, the straps being replaced on her shoulders. "Thank you. But tonight …" He added, while cupping her delicate face in his hands, his eyes drown into hers. "You need to cry on my shoulders."_

_Katerina startled at Elijah's words, before suddenly giving herself, the right, to feel her pain. The tears ran down on her cheeks, with loud sobbing sounds finally coming out or her mouth. He slowly brought her into an embrace, before tenderly rocking her in his arms, her head placed on his right shoulder, with his left hand rubbing her lower back and his right hand caressing softly her hair._

* * *

_**Russia - City of Moscow - Abandoned factory.** _

_The sound of shoes hitting the concrete pavement filled the emptiness and quietness of the abandoned factory. Mikael Mikaelson wrapped himself in his winter coat, while raising his scarf over his neck. Even as an Original vampire, he was still able to feel the crisp, icy, cold weather of Russia._

_He finally stopped in front of two hybrids guards, placed in their human forms in front of a steel door, with weapons in hands. They nodded their heads to him, while keeping their murderous sights fixated on the vampire._

" _Я здесь, чтобы увидеть Petrov. Он ждет меня."_ _ **I'm here to see Petrov. He is waiting for me.**_ _He informed the guards in Russian, while nodding his head in respect to them._

_The two guards remained silent, but one of them opened the steel door placed behind their backs, while leading their walking steps inside._

_The Original passed the threshold, before following the tall man into numerous corridors, while being brought in front of an additional steel door a few minutes later._

" _ **Petrov**_ _is waiting for you inside." The Russian guard informed the vampire in perfect English._

_Mikael Mikaelson pushed the door before entering a dark room where a single light illuminated its darkness, with a lamp placed on a folding table._

" _Mikael" He heard the greeting of a hoarse male voice, with a tick Russian accent._

" _Ludvig" Mikael replied, while slowly getting rid of his leather gloves, before reaching the man position._

" _It's been a long time, my friend." The said Ludvig replied._

" _It has." Mikael confirmed, while smiling deviously._

" _Yes, a thousand of years, I believe the last time we'd met, it was when the blade of my sword met yours." Ludvig added, sarcastically. "These are vivid memories."_

" _Mm… Indeed." Mikael replied to him, smirking, before holding his walking pace in front of the table, both hands crossed over his chest._

_Ludvig Petrov was sitting on a chair, in front of Mikael's sight, with two gorilla men by his sides._

" _But not as intense as the memory of you and my wife becoming lovers, with your bastard son, Klaus, left in her womb." Mikael added, slyly_.


	11. The return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia…** _

_A few light flakes started their descent from the night sky, while covering the streets of London of a thin white coat of snow. Carolina was standing in front of Klaus's bedroom window, while lowering her sight on the front gate of the Manor._

_The motorcycle suddenly stopped in front of the gate; with the noise of the engine suddenly dying and leaving the silence only to fill the obscurity of the night. Klaus turned his sight toward the Manor, before raising a rapid glance toward his bedroom. "She" was standing in front of the window, with her sight fixated on him. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, before restarting the engine of the motorcycle, opening the brass doors of the gate, and finally leaving the premises._

_Carolina let one single tear running down her left cheek, before closing her eyes, and raising her shaking right hand to wipe it away._

_Klaus Mikaelson, her husband, had left her … And probably for good …_

_**ooOoo** _

_**Russia - City of Moscow - Abandoned factory.** _

_The sound of shoes hitting the concrete pavement filled the emptiness and quietness of the abandoned factory. Mikael Mikaelson wrapped himself in his winter coat, while raising his scarf over his neck. Even as an Original vampire, he was still able to feel the crisp, icy, cold weather of Russia._

_He finally stopped in front of two hybrids guards, placed in their human forms in front of a steel door, with weapons in hands. They nodded their heads to him, while keeping their murderous sights fixated on the vampire._

" _Я здесь, чтобы увидеть Petrov. Он ждет меня." I'm here to see Petrov. He is waiting for me. He informed the guards in Russian, while nodding his head in respect to them._

_The two guards remained silent, but one of them opened the steel door placed behind their backs, while leading their walking steps inside._

_The Original passed the threshold, before following the tall man into numerous corridors, while being brought in front of an additional steel door a few minutes later._

" _Petrov is waiting for you inside." The Russian guard informed the vampire in perfect English._

_Mikael Mikaelson pushed the door before entering a dark room where a single light illuminated its darkness, with a lamp placed on a folding table._

" _Mikael" He heard the greeting of a hoarse male voice, with a tick Russian accent._

" _Ludvig" Mikael replied, while slowly getting rid of his leather gloves, before reaching the man position._

" _It's been a long time, my friend." The said Ludvig replied._

" _It has." Mikael confirmed, while smiling deviously._

" _Yes, a thousand of years, I believe the last time we'd met, it was when the blade of my sword met yours." Ludvig added, sarcastically. "These are vivid memories."_

" _Mm… Indeed." Mikael replied to him, smirking, before holding his walking pace in front of the table, both hands crossed over his chest._

_Ludvig Petrov was sitting on a chair, in front of Mikael's sight, with two gorilla men by his sides._

" _But not as intense as the memory of you and my wife becoming lovers, with your bastard son, Klaus, left in her womb." Mikael added, slyly._

* * *

_One of the guards stepped forward threatening Mikael, soon restrain in his walking motion by Ludvig's hand placed on the man left forearm._

" _Stop… There's no need for such uncivil behaviors, this gentleman is one of my oldest friend, aren't you Mikael?" Ludvig reassured his guard, with a discreet nod._

" _You have an unorthodox definition of "friendship" Ludvig?" Mikael smirked. "I'm probably one of your oldest and eldest enemies."_

" _I'm an unorthodox man, Mikael; most of my friends are enemies, most of my enemies are my friends." Ludvig replied, while shrugging his shoulders and straightening his left arm to grab a bottle of Vodka left on the table. "Can I offer you a glass of our best Russian vodka?"_

" _Are you offering me one of your special "vervain" concoctions, perhaps, Ludvig?" Mikael raised an eyebrow. "You should know better, I'm immune to it since a few centuries now."_

" _I know better, my "friend", that is why it's only "vodka"." Ludvig replied, smiling, before pushing the filled class toward Mikael's sitting position, near the table._

" _So, the one and only_ _ **Valdemar**_ _, now called "Ludvig Petrov", it took me quite a long time to find you under this new attributed name." Mikael titled his head, before raising his glass to his lips._

" _Please, my friend, can't it be worse than "Mikaelson"?" Ludvig laughed, while crossing his hands over his chest._

" _Touche!" Mikael replied, smirking. "I guess our previous Vikings' names wouldn't fit well this modern civilisation."_

" _It's this modern society that is not fitting "our grace", Mikael, not the other way around." Ludvig nodded. "Let just say that I came into contact one day with a beautiful woman named_ _ **Petrova**_ _, and from there I attributed to myself a slightly similar one. It was almost a love at first sight, as family name goes, of course."_

_Mikael raised his narrowed sight on his enemy._

" _Very peculiar, I came across the same family name recently." Mikael admitted, while lowering his empty glass on the table._

" _Maybe we met the same woman?" Ludvig twisted his lips into a rictus, while shrugging. "The world is such a small place, Mikael."_

" _Cut to the chase, Ludvig." Mikael advised in a colder tone of voice. 'What are your game, what do you want?"_

" _I want my legitimate son to know me, and now that I've located him, it's only a matter of "time" before we'll finally come face to face." Ludvig informed. "You won't keep him away from me much longer, Mikael."_

" _You were obviously not looking very hard the last centuries; it was actually pretty easy to find him." Mikael replied, while crossing his arms in front of his chest._

" _I've been busy, my friend … Busy at building a new army." Ludvig informed, grinning._

" _So, you were the investigator of this marital setup which included Katerina and Carolina Petrova?" Mikael demanded._

" _Investigator, no, it simply came into my knowledge by my sources. They informed me of the upcoming weddings of our sons." Ludvig confirmed. "Quite a pair of beauties they have on their hands, would you say?"_

" _Debatable … I have a higher standard in mind as for my daughter-in-law." Mikael responded._

" _You never had good taste in women to begin with, except for one. Where's_ _ **Ingrid**_ _?" Ludvig frowned, while losing his smile and closing his fists in anger._

" _You mean the "whore" who gave you this bastard son named Niklaus?" Mikael smirked, pleasurably. "The woman known as "_ _ **Ingrid**_ _" is dead."_

" _Watch you dirty mouth_ _ **Yngve**_ _!" Ludvig yelled, while rising on his legs, before violently hitting his closed fists on the table. "And you're lying!"_

" _Actually… I'm not lying." Mikael replied. "Niklaus's mother is none existent. I guess a family reunion is out of the question now?"_

" _You're enjoying this, aren't you? But, you'll give me respect under my roof and while you're standing on my land!" Ludvig busted at the patriarch of the Originals._

" _I'll do better than that,_ _ **Valdemar,**_ _I'll leave." Mikael replied, while slowly sliding his hands in his leather gloves, before standing up. "I had obtained the information for what I came for after all." He smirked, before pushing the chair and taking a few walking steps to reach the exit door._

" _Mikael!" Ludvig called him, urgently._

_Mikael Mikaelson held his pace, but without facing his enemy._

" _The time has come. The war is nearer than you think, between our two species." Ludvig warned him. "Believe me when I say that I'll find a way to take my revenge on you and your family on day, sooner than later,_ _ **Yngve**_ _!"_

_Mikael stood immobile for a few seconds, before grabbing the door handle and leaving the premises of this old factory._

* * *

_**London, two months later of Klaus's departure…** _

_Elijah felt a presence watching over him in his study room. He raised his head and sight before catching a glimpse of his wife who stood on the threshold of the opened door._

_He grabbed his leather briefcase on the floor before raising it on his desktop to fill its inside of a few files. He wondered within himself, how Katerina could be so beautiful in the early hours of the morning. She was standing under the arch door, her curly hair falling freely on her back, her long legs dressed of designer jeans, with a large white sweater denuding her bare shoulders, a pair of high heels red pumps were completing the perfect assemble._

_The attraction and sexual desire for his wife had reached their higher peak, to the point of forbidding himself, the past few months, to even be present in the same room than her. Otherwise, he could probably throw his wife on his desktop before making passionate love to her, but, he was standing firm in his revised decision to keep his distance from the time being, or at least until his brother return_

" _I'm here only for a short moment to take a few files with me, before heading toward my office." He informed her, while closing his briefcase. "I'll be back late tonight."_

" _Of course you will. The exact repetitive words of what you have said to me yesterday, and probably what you will say to me, tomorrow." Katerina responded, while crossing her arms in front of her chest as a protective mechanism. "And I'll smile and wish you a good day, because that is what I've been asked to do, paid to do, isn't it the truth, Elijah?"_

_Elijah kept his sight in the one of his wife for a few minutes. They stared at each other in an awkward and uncomfortable silence, but it's him who finally lowered his head away from her insistent gaze while sighing loudly._

" _I'm sure you'll find something to occupy yourself in the meantime, Katerina." He replied, while grabbing his briefcase with his right hand. "Maybe you could do a bit of shopping to fill your free time?" He suggested._

" _Please have the decency to not lower me at the poor level of the stupid woman that you have bought for yourself, who can't do anything else but smile, say yes to every of your demands or go shopping to pass the time!" She lashed out at him._

" _And yet, you were certainly happy to use my credit card the past few months." Elijah replied, tit for tat, while feeling a range of remorse hitting him like a ton of bricks, after his say to her._

_Katerina lost all her colors, while displaying to her husband sight the whitest complexion and tearful eyes._

' _Why did you marry me, Elijah?" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth, while shaking her head. "You could easily have any woman agreeing to be married to you, without this marriage contract?"_

" _I thought we had discussed our marriage agreement many times already?" He shrugged, while walking to reach her standing position. "I needed a wife to stand by my side, with my professional position, it is custom to have one."_

" _It's kind of funny, because since I've been married to you, you never invited me to join you in any of your business dinners or cocktails." She busted to his face. "Is it because you're ashamed of me, I'm not pretty enough?"_

" _Don't say stupid things like that, Katerina." Elijah mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "It enrages me when you do, you're gorgeous and you know it."_

" _And yet, you're not even able to understand that I don't care about all of these designer clothes or shoes. I'm buying them because … Because I want for you to be proud of the woman who's standing by your side in front of your business partners."_

" _I'm …" He started, before lowering his head, and closing his fists in anger. Anger directed at himself for leading her into believing that he did not care. "I'm busy with my work these days; it's the role of my wife to understand that simple fact."_

" _Why don't you spell it, Elijah: You did not marry me for "me", instead you had bought yourself a deluxe escort who needs to look good for her husband if and when he'll need her for services, am I right?" She lashed out, while pointing a finger at his chest, with a single tear rolling on her left cheek, before turning on her heels and storming out of his office._

" _Katerina … Katerina…" He called several times into the empty corridors, without being answered._

_The young woman had run away from him…_

" _Damn it!" He busted, angrily, at himself, before hitting the arch door with his closed fist._

* * *

_Katerina stood on the threshold of the laundry room, her hands buried in the back pockets of her designer jeans, perched on her new high heels red shoes._

_Maria raised her head from the clothes basket where her hands were buried in search of a missing black sock._

" _Are these new shoes, Mrs. Katerina?" Maria smiled, while winking at the young woman._

" _Aren't they precious?" Katerina responded, while twirling her right ankle, with a timid smile blessing her lips._

" _They are very nice, "Louboutin"?" Maria arched an eyebrow in interrogation._

" _Chanel." Katerina spread her smile from ear to ear._

" _Well, your feet look very pretty in them." Maria smiled._

" _It's the only thing that I am allowed to do these days: shop!" Katerina sighed, while leaning her upper body on the arch door, before crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _I got it!" Maria exclaimed joyfully while reaching for a black sock that was hiding underneath a set of white body towels. "I've been trying to find your husband missing sock since a couple of days now."_

" _I think… I'll ask Elijah, my husband, for an annulment or a divorce whatever will be easier for him to give me." Katerina said in one breath, while swallowing a nervous lump into her throat._

_Maria raised her head in surprise at the young woman that was standing by her side, before shaking her head and talking a few steps to reach her._

" _Come." The governess proposed to her, while grabbing Katerina's right hand, before inviting her to take a siting place on a wooden bench placed near the appliances. "Why would you do that, my child? Is it because of your sister's situation?"_

_Katerina buried her face into her hands while sighing loudly._

" _He hasn't touched me, yet … I mean, not one single time, except for a kiss or two." The young Russian admitted while shrugging her shoulders and avoiding Maria's sight. "I thought we had reached a place where we could stepped over the threshold, but now he's … He's only polite and respectful, but he's avoiding me. I know that I've accepted these conditions from the start … But …"_

" _He hasn't? What do you …Oh, right, I see!" Maria exclaimed, while blushing and lowering her head._

" _I'm sorry, Maria, this is awkward for you, obviously, I … I put you in the middle of something that doesn't concern you." Katerina stammered the apology._

" _My dear, the minute I've stepped into this house with the title of governess, believe me when I say that I was placed into awkwardness from the start." Maria mocked. "It all came with the job description." She added, while squeezing Katerina's hands in hers._

" _How did you … I mean how did you obtain this position?" Katerina asked the governess._

" _Oh…Well, I have been diagnosed with a rare medical condition and Mr. Mikaelson was kind enough to offer me this job regardless of my problem." Maria explained, evasively._

" _I'm sorry … I had no idea." Katerine stammered the words._

" _No need, it's a part of me and I made peace with it now." Maria replied, smiling. "Now, as for your husband, Mister Mikaelson…" She sighed. "The poor man is unfortunately in the middle of a delicate situation." She tried her best to explain._

" _Not able to express to his wife that he's not attracted to her?" Katerina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _No, I don't believe this for a second. Because we both know, my child, that this is bogus." Maria shook her head. "It's just that your husband has no way of knowing the outcome of his brother and your sister relationship, therefore, he don't want to hurt you, or lead you into false promises."_

" _You know how … I mean how both of our marriages happened, do you, Maria?" Katerina asked, while rubbing he hands nervously._

" _Yes, I know the essential part of it." Maria nodded._

" _If … If "his" brother doesn't come back, then my sister will be free of her engagement to this man." She mumbled the words, while standing up, before pacing back and forth in front of the governess. "What is making me so angry is that her marriage was consummated under …" Katerina sighed in anger, before closing her eyes and making a pause to calm her down. "It was consummated, and she couldn't get an annulment when in reverse I can!"_

" _You're talking about two different situations, Mrs. Katerina." Maria tried to reason with her._

" _He left Maria! He took his backpack and left my sister hanging after what he had done to her." Katerina shouted to the governess._

" _Well, yes … But …" Maria tried to cut Katerina in the middle of her sentence._

" _There is no but! He abused my sister… And yet, she was willing to forgive him. I don't know from where within herself she could even find the strength to do that." She exclaimed more._

" _They probably have a special bound between them Mrs. Katerina that they can't begin to explain themselves." Maria tempted a new approach. "I've seen their exchanges; they could barely keep their eyes away from each other."_

" _They have a what? No, she couldn't have a bound with that kind of man. She is just afraid and lost, and don't know how to react." Katerina listed the reasons._

" _Mm…" Maria let out the sound._

" _What, Maria?" Katerina asked, while shrugging her shoulders._

" _And you have lost yours, haven't you?" Maria asked. "You have lost your "bound" with your sister?"_

_Katerina hold her pace, before taking a few deep breaths into her lungs, through the blurry vision of her teary eyes._

" _She's avoiding me since Klaus left… because…" She half confessed to Maria, before taking her sitting position back at governess's side._

" _Mrs. Carolina is avoiding you_ _ **because**_ _you're against her decision to wait for "her" husband to give him a second chance." Maria finished her thought. "At the same time, you're torn because you would like to give a chance to your own marriage, but you can't contemplate this option as long as you don't know if your sister will not bail out of the initial deal?"_

_Katerina nodded her head discreetly, while keeping her sight on her lap._

" _Would you like for your sister to put her nose in your relationship with Mister Mikaelson?" Maria asked, with a raised eyebrow._

" _It's not the same, Maria." Katerina sighed, before passing a hand through her tangled hair._

" _Perhaps it's not the same conditions, but it's "her" husband as much as it is "yours", Mrs. Katerina." Maria encouraged her. "You couldn't begin to understand her marriage dynamic, she couldn't understand yours. If her relationship with Mister Klaus is doomed, and meant to fail, let her figure that part for herself, but if it meant to flourish into some kind of new beginning for them, you'll have to accept this outcome as well, my child. Give yourself the gift of "time", because only time will heal the wounds."_

_Katerina raised on her legs, before leading her walk toward the exit, while leaning her body on the arch door and taking a last glimpse at Maria._

" _You think he'll come back?" She asked, worried._

" _Yes, I think Mister Klaus will come back, when he'll be ready to make the move." Maria nodded. "He simply gave the opportunity to your sister to bail herself out, but she have chosen to wait for him."_

" _Ok." Katerina nodded, while taking her first steps into the corridor._

" _Mrs. Katerina?" Maria called._

" _Yes?" She replied, while passing her head back under the arch._

" _Your husband is a good, loyal, sincere and trustworthy man; give it a bit of more time." Maria suggested, with a smile._

" _And if he stays stoic as he is now?" Katerina asked, while blushing._

" _We'll launch the operation "commando" to wake him up!" Maria replied, mocker, while standing up and pointing a finger at the young woman, who busted into laughter._

* * *

_**Two months later…** _

" _Thanks… I mean for accompany me." Carolina thanked Stefan Salvatore, while lowering her blushed cheeks._

_An early spring had pushed the grey sky of the winter into its luminous rays of sunshine and blue sky. They were strolling the streets of London while window shopping._

" _You mean forcing you into getting out of the house, aren't you?" Stefan winked at her, while twisting the corners of his lips into a smile._

" _It's a way of phrasing it." She smiled back at him. "Do you feel obligated? I hope… I mean with my husband's departure, I hope it's not the case?" She asked, in a worried state of mind._

" _My dear, I'm not the kind of man that feels obligated of doing things that he doesn't want to do. Relax; it's a pleasure to accompany you." He replied to her. "I was in London for a couple of days for business. I thought of mixing work with pleasure, and that it would be courteous to visit you."_

" _I'm sure he… My husband would appreciate your kind consideration toward me." She nodded, respectfully._

" _You're kidding, right? Because If only he knew that I'm standing as of now, in a so close proximity of you, he would hate it with a passion. He's not one to share his most precious possession" Stefan smirked. "He would be chasing after me through the streets of London with a dagger in hands."_

_Carolina stopped her walking pace, while standing motionless with a haggard look splattered on her face._

" _I'm joking, Carolina!" Stefan exclaimed, while waving both hands in front of her sight, to snap her out of her frozen state. "Well, half joking really, he would still be chasing after me, but probably not with a dagger in hands." He added, smirking._

" _If he wanted no one to accompany me in my walk, he should have stayed in London." She responded, while shrugging her shoulders, and reprising her walk._

" _Touché…Is this helping the rage you're containing inside of yourself?" Stefan asked mocker._

" _A bit…" Carolina responded, smiling herself._

" _You know I was not joking when I've mentioned that you became Klaus's most precious possession." Stefan added, with raised eyebrows._

" _I'm a woman not an object." She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _Klaus is a complex and unique man; he sees things differently than the majority of us, poor souls." Stefan explained, while offering Carolina his left upper arm to help her cross the street. "But, he cares about "you", Carolina; he left probably for the only reason of feeling the steady ground moving under his feet, he got scared…Only a strong, unique, and beautiful woman as yourself could have managed to create this behavior in him."_

" _How … How did you become friends?" Carolina asked, before releasing her grip on his arm. "Thank you."_

" _You're welcome." He replied, smiling. "Well, we've been friends since centuries actually."_

_Carolina raised her head to glance at him in surprise._

" _I mean it feels like centuries." Stefan rephrased it, while frowning over his stupid error._ _ **Focus Salvatore; focus**_ _… "We met in Chicago actually, many years ago."_

" _How was "he", back in those days?" Carolina asked, while blushing and shrugging her shoulders._

" _Pretty much the same, pretentious, pain in the ass, jerk! You needed to bless the ground that he was walking on … An "asshole" in all his glory." Stefan mocked._

" _Then why are you still his friend?" Carolina asked, while glancing at him with a raised eyebrow._

" _Because he's also loyal, faithful, and he would lay his own safety on the line to protect his love ones." He replied truthfully. "He's been searching for this unconditional "love" all his life. He wasn't appreciated by his step-father and it kind of made him what he is now."_

" _He's lucky." She replied, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat._

" _And why is that?" Stefan replied._

" _He's lucky simply because he has found you for a friend." Carolina replied._

" _And you for a wife." Stefan replied, tit for tat. "Now if only he was here to realize it? If only he would know that you've been waiting for his return for months now?"_

_Carolina raised her head before noticing the "chic" hairdresser establishment in front of her sight._

" _Stefan, do you mind if we part ways in here? I suddenly think that I'm due for a change." She asked him._

" _Not at all…Do you have money on you for a cab?" Stefan replied._

" _Yes, thank you for you kindness. I'll take one or I'll walk back to the mansion." She answered him, politely._

" _Don't go "redhead" on us; you're too gorgeous as a blonde." He suggested, before blessing her left cheek of a kiss, and leaving her standing in front of the hairdresser window._

_The recent past still weighed on her frail shoulders … But, the future was her to hold._

* * *

" _Maria?" The governess heard her name being called, before turning on herself to take a quick glimpse._

" _Mrs. Carolina? I did not hear you stand outside the kitchen my child, what can I do for you?" Maria asked, while grabbing a hand towel to dry her hands._

" _I was wondering if you find the key of the room upstairs. You know the art shop room?" Carolina asked, while entering the kitchen, barefooted, with a torn t-shirt and a torn pair of jeans as clothes._

" _Yes, I actually did, Mrs. Carolina, though this room has been closed for several years, now." She responded, while opening a drawer to reach for an old brass key. "I'll go with you to open the door. The room must be filled with dust by now." She added, while turning on herself to face the young Russian. "Oh, dear Jesus, what have you done to your hair?" She exclaimed, while raising her right hand over her chest._

" _You… You don't like, Maria?" Carolina asked, with flushed cheeks, while raising her right hand on her neck to touch the short locks._

" _What? No, no, my bad to make you believe the contrary, actually, you look adorable with short hair; this simply took me by surprise." Maria said truthfully, while smiling. "Shall we go?" She invited Carolina to follow her into the corridors._

" _You're sure it won't be a problem for me to enter my husband art shop?" Carolina asked, nervously._

" _I don't see why it would be, Mrs. Carolina? This art shop had been condemned for years now." Maria explained, while climbing the stairs. "Did you approach Mister Elijah with your wish to start art classes?"_

" _No, I did not approach him yet." Carolina shook her head, while rubbing her hands nervously._

_Maria held her walking pace in front of the locked door, before slowly sliding the key into the lock._

" _You know, I believe that Mr. Elijah will probably be very surprised and content by your sudden ambition to further new personal path in your life." Maria replied, while pushing the door open, and opening the light._

" _I suppose…" Carolina responded, while shrugging her shoulders. "I need to occupy my time while "he's" away." She added, while passing by Maria's side to enter the art shop._

" _The hair, my child…You cut it to remove a heavy weight on your shoulders, if only just as a sign, could I be right?" Maria asked, while tilting her head, and joining her hands._

_Carolina turned her head to take a glance at Maria, while discreetly nodding her head._

" _Yes." She confessed, in a low murmur._

" _Did it help?" Maria asked, in concerns._

" _Somehow, and in a weird way, yes, it did, Maria." Carolina explained._

" _Then, it was a good decision." Maria replied, smiling, before advancing into the art shop before removing sheets over a few furniture and white canvas._

" _It's big and bright." Caroline confessed, while twirling on herself. "Look at all this high windows." She exclaimed, amazed of discovering this hiding room in the manor._

" _It is, isn't it?" Maria responded, while scattering the room. "You should be able to use the space after a good cleaning."_

" _It's a shame that this room was condemned." Caroline thought out loud._

" _Your husband used to come every day a few years ago, and then … He simply stopped." Maria informed her._

" _You know why?" Carolina asked, curious._

" _No, he just condemned the door. You were lucky that I was able to find it." Maria smiled._

" _What is under this big sheet?" Carolina asked, while pointing the wall._

" _Mm… It's probably one of his paintings?" Maria guessed, before reaching the sheet and pulling on it, while making her cough and creating a cloud of dusts at the same time._

_They both stood speechless and in admiration in front of the masterpiece._

" _He's talented, but his work is so dark." Carolina expressed herself, while approaching the canvas and touching with the tips of her fingers, the dark paint used on this masterpiece._

" _Your husband is a tormented and lonely man….Until the day he met you, I saw a change in him." Maria replied, with her arms crossed in front of her chest, while tilting her head. "Of course I say that with all respect to my employer." She added, while blushing._

" _Your secret thoughts on my husband art are safe with me, Maria." Carolina smirked, while winking at the governess._

" _Well, that is certainly a relief." Maria replied, sarcastically. "I let you be, Mrs. Carolina."_

" _Oh Maria … You're not obligated to leave." Carolina tried to retain the governess._

" _I have work that is awaiting me in the kitchen." Maria replied, before adding. "Plus, I believe that this private time, in your husband art shop, will make your learn a bit more about him through his paintings." She added to the young woman._

_Carolina nodded her head to Maria, before turning back her sight on the dark expression of the painting._

_His husband was still a mystery to her, but with time passing by, she was discovering more and more about him and all his complexity._

* * *

_A discreet knock on the office door startled Elijah._

" _Come in?" He invited the intruder, while raising his head from his desktop._

" _Hi." Carolina greeted, while closing the study room door behind her back._

" _Carolina, it's nice to see you, how have you been?" Elijah asked, a smile blessing his lips, while inviting her, with a hand gesture, to take a sitting place in front of him. "You cut your hair?" He smiled, while tilting his head._

" _Yes." She blushed, while touching her short locks._

" _It suits you well." He replied, sincerely. "What can I do for you?" He added as a question, while leaning his upper body on the back of his office leather chair._

" _I've been waiting for a long time now…" She tried to explain, while stammering the words._

" _You want out of the deal?" Elijah asked, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat. Carolina wanting out of her marriage with his brother could only mean that he would lose his chance to make his real._

" _No, no … I'm still waiting for my husband return." She confirmed to him, under his sigh of pure relief. "I'm…You see, while I'm waiting, I was wondering if it would be alright with you if I started a few art classes?" She asked. "I know that in the past you told me that if I needed anything … So…"_

_Elijah raised an eyebrow, mostly surprised, before crossing his arms over his chest._

" _Done" He accepted, while nodding his head._

" _Like that." She said, joyfully._

" _Like that." He replied, smiling._

" _Oh thank you, thank you so much!" She thanked him, warmly, while standing up and walking excitedly toward the door._

" _Let me know the term for the payments, would you?" He asked of her._

" _Sure." She replied, happily, before turning the door handle._

" _Carolina?" He called her._

" _Yes?" She replied, while turning her head toward him._

" _Did you reopen the art shop?" He asked, questioning._

" _Yes, but if it is a problem…" She tried to apologize._

" _No, not at all, don't worry about that, it's just … It's just that you seem to have more in common with my brother than I firstly thought." He nodded._

" _I … I saw a couple of his painting. Your brother is very talented." She replied, while lowering her sight._

" _Yes, he was." Elijah replied to her, his sight lost in the emptiness of the room._

" _Thank you." She added, before opening the door._

" _Carolina?" He called a second time._

" _Yes, Elijah?" She replied._

" _My brother would certainly be proud of seeing you take these art classes." Elijah added. "He would want you to be in his art shop, I'm certain of that."_

_Carolina nodded her head discreetly, before leaving the study room._

* * *

_**Germany, Munich city** _

_Klaus entered the deserted bar, late at night, while slowly accommodating his sight to the penumbra of the place, his senses in alert, with the only sound of his footsteps reasoning on the wooden floor. Some sources has informed him that "she" could be present inside these walls, but nothing had been confirmed as of now, the narrowed sights of a few vampires men glued on him could be the predicament of a few unfortunate deaths to come if they would not behave accordingly to his needs… Though, the idea was not without charm to the hybrid. Killing a few of these poor souls would probably put him to sleep tonight._

_He reached the bar, before lowering his helmet on the counter._

" _Whisky" He ordered the bartender._

_The bartender raised his sight on him, before reaching for a bottle of Whisky on a shelf behind his back. He poured the amber liquid into a glass, before sliding it in front of Klaus._

" _Danke" He thanked the bartender in German._

" _Klaus Mikaelson." He heard a voice calling him, before smirking with his nose buried in the glass. "I have to see it to believe it." The voice added. "If I was not showing myself, in the flesh, you would have killed all my vampires, am I right?"_

_Klaus turned his sight toward the middle age woman that was standing at the far end of the bar counter with her arms crossed in front of her chest._

" _Liz!" He exclaimed, while lowering his empty glass on the bar counter, before strolling toward her. "I was considering it actually, boredom and all." He added, while smirking._

" _What do you want jerk?" The vampire woman asked, while raising her chin at him._

" _I want a hug from you whore, perhaps?" He asked, with his most adorable puppy face._

" _Come here, rascal!" She greeted him with a friendly slap on his bearded face._

" _You're still the same tomboy, woman!" He replied, while raising her in his arms. "How are you, Liz?" He asked, before dropping her back on her feet._

" _Bah, you know, the vampires species has seen better centuries." She replied, shrugging, before snapping his fingers at the bartender. "Bringen uns eine Flasche Whisky."_

_The bartender nodded his head at her request to bring them a bottle of Whisky._

" _Sit" She ordered Klaus, while taking her own sitting position at a table in front of him._

_The bartender walked to the table, before sliding two empty glasses in front of their sights, and leaving them with a full bottle of Whisky._

_Liz grabbed the bottle, before pouring the alcohol in the glasses._

" _Gesundheit!" She greeted, before gulping the glass content._

" _Gesundheit!" Klaus greeted, in return, while gulping his own. "Good stuff, sweetheart!" Klaus confirmed, while passing the back of his hand to wipe his mouth._

" _You know my love for alcohol?" The women replied, grinning, while raising her army boots on the table._

" _I've heard about it." Klaus replied, smirking, while raising his own legs._

" _What brings you in Germany, jerk?" Liz asked the hybrid._

" _I've been touring Europe since a couple of months." He replied, while lowering his head and sight on the table. "I've heard you were in Germany, I thought I would come and salute you." He shrugged._

" _I see." Liz replied, while filling their glasses for the second time. "When you say touring Europe, and by your general look: torn jeans, leather jacket, beard, longer hair … I presume you've helped the over population of this planet by going on a killing spree?" She asked, with raised eyebrows._

" _You always knew how I get my thrill, Liz." He replied, with a sadistic smile plastered on his lips, before gulping his second glass._

" _The hybrid in action… Yes, I remember." She nodded her head. "But, tell me, what happened to the revamp version of yourself, the rich "Duke" Klaus Mikaelson?"_

" _He got bored." He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, before reaching for the bottle and filling his glass one more time._

" _And son of a bitch… He also got married?" Liz exclaimed in shock, while grabbing Klaus's left hand in her. "Care to explain this?" The vampire asked him, while showing his wedding ring._

" _There's nothing to explain." He replied, slyly. "I must have been drunk and made a huge mistake."_

" _I'll be damn." Liz replied, while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You actually have feelings for that girl."_

" _I could easily kill you, in the time space of three seconds if I take my time, Liz, don't push it." Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, as a warning._

" _I'm shitting in my panties, Mikaelson." She replied, laughing. "So, is she a pretty, brunette?"_

" _She's blonde." He replied, while hoping that she would leave the subject alone._

" _You hate blondes." She said, amazed._

" _I know!" He shrugged._

" _She must be a hell of a vampire to put the mighty Klaus Mikaelson in this bad mood?" She concluded._

_Klaus kept silent, while lowering his sight on the amber liquid placed in his hands._

" _She's not a vampire? She's human?" Liz exclaimed, dumbfounded. "I'll be damn! I want to meet this woman."_

" _Not going to happen." Klaus replied, while gulping his third glass of Whisky._

" _Scattering Europe will not make your forget about her, Klaus. If you did not forget her already, it's unlikely that you'll ever will. Especially while keeping your wedding band as a concrete sign of your attachment for her."_

" _I'm aiming for her to forget me, Liz." He replied, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat. "I… I screw up, badly."_

" _I see." She replied. "Love is the greatest weakness for a vampire, Liz… Wasn't it your own sentence?" She asked, with raised eyebrows._

" _Can we talk about something else?" Klaus asked, nervously, while pushing his empty glass on the table._

_Liz scattered the empty room, before lowering her legs on the floor, and leaning her upper body on the table._

" _There's a rumor." She murmured to the hybrid. "I don't want my vampires to hear it, because it's not sure that it's founded."_

" _What kind of rumor?" Klaus asked, while frowning in interest._

" _There's a Russian mafia, a group of werewolves with as their leader a hybrid, just like you." She informed him. "I just know that his first name is:_ _ **Ludvig**_ _."_

_Klaus narrowed his sight on her, while giving her his full attention._

" _And, what…What are they aiming for: power, money, and the thrill of a kill?" He asked Liz._

" _Neither. The said hybrid has built an army of werewolves. The rumor says that he wants to abolish the present vampire's species, to build a new one, a stronger and indestructible one."_

" _He wants to create a new hybrids species, and abolish the old vampire one." Klaus replied, while crossing his arms over his chest. "What else do you know?" He asked._

" _To this point, I don't know much, unfortunately." She shook her head. "What do you think?" She asked._

" _We'll wait… Maybe this Ludvig is simply delusional at thinking that he can rule the supernatural world?" Klaus replied to his vampire friend. "Especially, darling, that it's been me who has run it for such a long time." He smirked, before gulping another glass of Whisky._

* * *

_**Six months later of Klaus's departure …** _

_Carolina entered the old century building, before strolling for several minutes into the different corridors placed in front of her sight. She buried her right hand in her backpack while pulling a registration paper from its inside._

" _Registration, ground floor, corridor Z-2" She read out loud._

" _You're heading toward the Registration?" A dark blonde, young man asked her, while carrying a cardboard box._

" _Yes, I am." Carolina replied, with a timid smile._

" _Follow me I'm heading that way." He replied, smiling._

" _Oh … Ok, sure." She replied, while walking on the young man heels._

" _I'm Matt by the way." The young English man presented himself._

" _Carolina… I mean Caroline." She responded, blushing._

" _Well, nice to meet you Carolina-Caroline." Matt greeted her, while winking. "What are you registering for?"_

" _Drawing and painting, level 1 and the succeeding levels afterward." She replied, while reading the course title on the form._

" _You're kind of ambitious." Matt admitted._

" _You think it's too much?" She stammered the words, nervously._

" _No, I'm joking." Matt replied, with a small laugh. "I actually been in all of those courses, you'll love them."_

" _I'm excited to start." Carolina nodded her head._

" _Bonnie!" Matt exclaimed, while carrying the box inside the registration office. "There is someone for you at the counter!"_

" _Why are you shouting, I'm not deaf?" The said called woman rolled her eyes, before passing her tongue at the English man, who laugh even more after her reply. "Hi! You're here for registration?" She greeted Carolina, while chewing loudly, with a smile from ear to ear._

" _Yes, actually I've been pre-registered, I'm here to bring the money for the fee and obtain the list of supplies that I need to start on Monday." Carolina replied, while leaning her upper body on the counter._

" _What is your name?" Bonnie asked, while facing his computer screen._

" _I'm Carolina Petrova." She replied instinctively, before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I made a mistake, and my name is actually Caroline Forbes Mikaelson."_

_Bonnie raised a surprised sight at the young woman who was standing in front of her._

" _I was married just a few months ago, and I always forget my new name." Carolina tried to explain, while blushing._

" _Damn! I won't be able to ask you out then?" Matt said, mocker, while leaning his upper body near Bonnie's, on the other side of the counter._

" _Don't listen to him; he thinks that he is God's gift to the female population of London." Bonnie rolled her eyes to the ceiling._

" _Well, don't forget that you slept with me, sweetheart." Matt replied, tit for tat._

" _Yes, and what an error it was." Bonnie replied, while sighing loudly._

" _True, we did not connect at all." Matt replied, while shaking his head to an uncomfortable Carolina._

" _Could you just shut up, you're making Caroline uncomfortable." Bonnie replied, while reaching the printer to pull out a few papers._

" _Where are you from, Caroline, I can distinctly hear an accent?" Matt asked her. "Petrova… It's Russian, isn't it?"_

" _Yes, it is." Carolina replied, proudly, while nodding. "You have an accent too, American, isn't it?" She asked Bonnie._

" _You'll have to be deaf to not hear her American accent." Matt mocked, laughing._

" _Well, at least, I'm not talking like I have a hot potato in my mouth." She replied, while passing her tongue at her friend._

" _That's because she's too busy eating all the French fries and hamburgers she can find." Matt addressed himself to Carolina, who let out a small laugh._

" _Don't listen to him." Bonnie warned her. "I'm Bonnie by the way." She added, while handing her hand to the young Russian._

" _It's nice to meet you, Bonnie." Carolina replied, while shaking her hand. "Are you working in the school as of now… I mean since you've arrived in London?"_

" _I'm giving a hand to replace someone who's sick at the moment. I arrived in London couple of months ago to take a few art courses and see if I would integrate this Royal Kingdom afterward, if I can find a permanent job that is?" Bonnie replied, while shrugging her shoulders. "Then I met this asshole of English man, and we became friends."_

" _Watch your mouth, Bennett the American." Matt replied, while pushing her._

" _Ok, so … You're been registered for: drawing and painting, level 1. I just need you to put your signature on this line." Bonnie asked of her, while pointing a finger on the said line on the registering form. "We'll be in the same class." She added, smiling._

" _You're serious?" Carolina replied, while raising her head, before handing the signed form to Bonnie._

" _Yap, one of the many reasons I wanted to come in London to take these art classes was actually because of the professor who will give these courses: Alaric Saltzman is well known in the art community." Bonnie replied, before handing another form to her. "This paper is for you. You have the list of all the supplies needed for the art class, what is highlighted you'll have to buy the right expensive brand of brushes, unfortunately, but for most of the remaining products you can go with a generic brand."_

" _Thank you." Carolina replied, with a smile from ear to ear, before sliding the forms in her backpack. "I see you in class on Monday then, goodbye!"_

" _Goodbye Caroline!" Both, Matt and Bonnie replied, simultaneously._

_She walked toward the exit of the building with a smile plastered on her lips, her shoulders straightened, her head up high … She stepped outside while taking a deep breath of fresh air into her lungs._

_For the first time, she felt hopeful of the future…_

* * *

_Elijah kept his sight on his opened file, placed on his desktop, while comparing different charts of statistics on the hospital project in hands. He had decided to work at home, while taking a time off from his London office._

_He had tried his very best to stay away from his wife, Katerina, the past few months, while converting his mind and initial idea to a 360 degrees turn. He couldn't openly ask her to invest herself in their marital contract before knowing the faith of Klaus's and Carolina's marriage._

_He closed his eyes, before stroking both of his temples with the tips of his fingers, while being annoyed beyond belief, by the noise Maria was making with her duster in hands. How could a duster made of feathers make so much noise?_

_He sighed loudly, while raising his narrowed sight on his governess._

_Maria glanced rapidly in his direction, while raising her duster on the library shelves._

" _Everything is alright, Mister Mikaelson?" Maria asked him, while pushing a vase on the wood panel, in the most annoying shrill noise._

" _Yes, Maria, everything is fine." He mumbled, between his teeth. "Will you be almost done with this … This dusting of yours?" He asked, with a hand gesture._

" _Mm … Did you say something?" She asked him, while biting her bottom lip to retain her laughter._

" _It's ok, never mind, Maria." He said, while lowering his head back on his opened file._

_She pushed an armchair on the wooden floor, while creating another acute noise._

" _Ok, I give up." Elijah exclaimed, while throwing his golden pen on his desktop, before lowering his upper body on the back of his leather chair, and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I'm listening." He added._

" _I'm sorry? You were saying?" Maria replied, while straightening her body in a standing position._

" _Obviously, you have something on your mind that you want to share with me, Maria, so, I'm listening." He suggested to her._

" _Well, I was actually saying in silence to myself…" She started._

" _In silence, I doubt that, my dear." He mumbled, in a murmur, between his teeth, while rolling his eyes to the ceiling._

" _That it was a magnificent spring day, today, and that you could certainly bring Mrs. Katherine to a night out in the town?" Maria proposed, while turning her back at him, and biting her bottom lip in expectation of his answer._

" _I'm busy tonight; Maria, I have a board meeting followed by a business dinner." Elijah replied, while taking his pen back in his right hand. "My Armani shirt has been ironed and pressed?"_

" _Mm… I understand, Sir, like you've been busy the last few months." Maria replied, while dusting rigorously another tablet. "And yes, the said shirt has been pressed."_

" _Is there a subliminal message that I'm supposed to understand between the lines, Maria?" Elijah asked, with a raised eyebrow._

" _What? No, Mr. Mikaelson, I wouldn't allow myself to put my nose in your personal life. It would be so disrespectful, especially in my working hours of the day." She replied, falsely outraged, before lowering her duster on a side table, while raising her uniform sleeve to take a glimpse at her watch._

" _Well, it's highly appreciated, Maria, I have enough to deal with as it is." He sighed, before raising his sight back at his governess. "What are you doing now?"_

" _I'm counting the last remaining five seconds of my work shift." She explained. "Five, four, three, two, one, I believe that I've entered my personal time now."_

" _Are you feeling ok, Maria?" Elijah asked his governess, with a raised eyebrow._

" _Of course, Mister Mikaelson, but now that I am in my free time, if you would allow me to give you a well-deserved advice?" Maria warned him, while titling her head and crossing her hands in front of her chest._

" _I should have known that it would not be so easy." He rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "I'm listening." He added, before crossing both of his hands behind his head._

" _You're acting like a pretentious, snobbish man who's not able to grab his own happiness with both of his hands, and who's treating his own wife like she's a merchandise that he has purchased on the shopping channel" She busted at his face._

" _I …" Elijah tried to cut Maria in her sentence, while blushing under the attack._

" _I'm not finished." She raised her right hand in front of his sight to stop his say. "You have a beautiful, intelligent wife by your side that was gracious enough to wait for your childishness to take its course. She is obviously crazy about you, or why would she had been so patient with your tantrum?"_

" _I…" Elijah tried a second approach._

" _Ta, ta, ta …" She cut him once again. "If you are not putting yourself together very rapidly, you'll lose her for good, and you'll have only yourself, sir, to blame for, and the excuse of your brother's wedding won't stand this time!"_

" _Are you finished now, Maria?" Elijah asked, completely dumbfounded._

" _Yes, and I wish you a very nice evening." She concluded, before turning on her heels, and leaving the study room under a loud slamming of the door, while leaving Elijah completely speechless._

* * *

_Katerina flipped through the pages of a fashion magazine, while comfortably sitting in a leather chair in the parlor room. She sighed loudly, while throwing the magazine on a table, before crossing her arms in front of her chest in boredom._

" _Mrs. Katerina?" She heard her name being yelled by Maria._

" _Maria is there something wrong?" Katerina stammered the words, surprised, while turning her sight and body toward the governess that was storming inside the room._

" _I believe we'll launch the operation "commando" tonight, Mrs. Katerina." The governess exclaimed at her, before grabbing Katherina's right hand in hers, to pull her away from her comfortable sitting position._

" _What? What are you saying, Maria?" Katerina asked, dumbfounded, while being pulled behind Maria's heels. "And why are you carrying this man shirt with you?"_

" _As of now, this man shirt will be your weapon of seduction, use it as you will, but please, wake up this stubborn husband of yours, once in for all!" Maria lashed out, while rolling her eyes. "Or, I'll find a way to kill him with my bare hands myself!"_

* * *

" _Maria!" Elijah yelled, angrily, while opening his bedroom-suite door and barging into the corridor._

" _Mr. Mikaelson." She greeted, while nodding discreetly, before sliding her hands into a pair of silk gloves, and directing her steps down the stairs._

" _My Armani shirt, the lilac one, where is it? I have an important business dinner in less than an hour?" Elijah required, before following his governess' hells down the stairs._

" _Like I've mentioned to you, Mr. Mikaelson, your shirt has been ironed, steamed and placed in your walk-in closet, now if you misplaced it, I certainly can't be held responsible for it?" She responded, before reaching the entrance lobby._

" _I couldn't have misplaced it because I never saw it!" Elijah mumbled, between his teeth._

" _Well, maybe someone else misplaced it, your wife, Mrs. Katherine perhaps?" She shrugged, uninterested by his present tantrum._

" _I know perfectly what my wife is called, Maria, no need to remind me." He replied, slyly._

" _Well, with those words, I wish you a pleasant evening, Sir; I hope you'll find your shirt very soon." She nodded her head, before grabbing the door handle._

" _You're going to leave me like this?" Elijah asked, dumbfounded, with both of his hands firmly placed on each side of his waist._

" _Yes! I believe this is my evening off, and I have a date with Pavarotti at the Royal Opera House, "Le Nozze de Figaro." is waiting for me." She informed him, before storming out of the manor on a loud slamming of the front door._

" _You got to be kidding me!" Elijah exclaimed to himself, before passing a nervous hand through his hair. "It's the second time she's slamming the door at my face, today." He added, before turning on his heels, and leading his walking steps toward the corridor. "Katerina?" He yelled, in hope of finding his wife, and perhaps his missing shirt._

* * *

_Elijah stormed inside his study office room while opening the door, before grabbing his blackberry from his pants' pocket and signaling the saved number of his office._

_He suddenly stood speechless and motionless in the entrance of the room, his sight narrowed on his "wife", that was at the present moment lying on his desktop, half naked. He scattered very quickly the ambiance of the room: as lights goes, several candles had been sporadically placed on furniture, a bottle of wine was also placed on the edge of the desktop, with by its side, a filled glass of red wine obviously intended for him._

" _Mikaelson enterprise, Milanda Stenfford on the line, may I direct your call?" He heard his receptionist voice replied, not even able to articulate an answer to Miranda at the moment._

_Katerina was lying on his desktop; over a few of his files, while wearing as only clothes his missing Armani shirt, with the buttons opened on her deep neckline, and the black lace of her bra peaking erotically underneath the shirt fabric. Both of her sexy bare legs were equally exposed to his sigh, with her feet dressed with the high heels, feathers, slippers that drove him crazy. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, drops of sweat rolling slowly on each side of his temples, an obvious discomfort visibly noticeable in the crotch area of his trousers. Devil woman that she was!_

" _I was waiting for you." Katerina murmured to him, while sliding one of her finger in her glass of wine, slowly wrapping her finger of the red fruit nectar, raising it back to her parted red lips, before sucking hard on it. "I poured you a glass; maybe we could share a nightcap before you live for your business dinner?" She added, with a raised eyebrow, while purposely biting her pulpous and lustrous bottom lip, before lowering her right hand and seductively playing with the last button that was keeping the shirt closed on her naked body._

_**Fuck, fuck, fuck** _ _… Elijah thought secretly, while rubbing his face with his right hand, not being able to formulate a coherent thought in his mind at the moment, his sight narrowed on the delicious curves of his wife breasts._

" _Mister Mikaelson, is this you? Can I help you?" He heard the worried voice of his secretary calling._

" _Yes." He managed to whisper into the phone._

" _I did not put any panties underneath the shirt." Katerina whispered some more. "I hope you won't be disgusted by the idea of me lying almost naked on your desktop and all these files?" She added, naughty._

_Disgusted? Far from it! He had never been more sexually aroused in all his long vampire life, than this present moment, unable to react accordingly to the situation, to form a coherent thought, to take a step forward, while acting like a young teenager in front of his wife._

" _Are you ok, Mister Mikaelson? I'm worrying about you?" He heard Melinda asking._

" _I'm fine." He replied, while lowering his sight from the "object" of his arousal. "Could you call the associates and tell them that I'm cancelling tonight's dinner."_

" _But, Mister Mikaelson, some of them came from New York?" Miranda tried to object._

" _Could you do as I say, and don't ask anymore question, Miranda?" He ordered her, before closing the call, and throwing the blackberry on an armchair._

_Katerina swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, while rubbing her sweaty palms together. For the past minutes of this elaborated set up of seduction, she had been in perfect control of the situation, but now, with the hunter sight of her husband narrowed on his prey, she could feel the beats of her heart raising her level of fear._

_Elijah reached his wife sitting position on his desk, before grabbing the glass of wine and drinking its content in a single gulp, while keeping his fiery sight in hers._

" _You …" She started nervously, stammering the words. "You cancelled the meeting?"_

" _Yes, I did." He replied, while taking slow, calculated steps to reach the right side of the desk, before grabbing her left ankle and raising her leg on his muscular chest, with Katerina's foot resting on his right shoulder, his hand slowly sliding on the length of her skin, with his lips kissing the tender part of her ankle. "You know how aroused I get when you put these slippers, aren't you, Katerina?" He asked her, while lowering his wife trembling leg back on the hard wood of the desktop._

" _Yes" She responded, while strengthening her upper body in a sitting position, before raising both of her hands on his muscular chest, feeling his muscles tensed under her touch over the fabric of his long sleeve t-shirt._

" _You've been a naughty girl, what do you expect me to do now?" He whispered, while leaning his head near hers, softly nibbling on her left earlobe, before slowly raising his hands between her inner thighs, higher on her burning core, under her cry of surprise and excitement._

" _I want … I want you to be as naughty as I am." She managed to murmured, while grabbing two hands full of his tick hair, at the base of his neck._

_Elijah growled loudly, while touching her arousal underneath the tip of his fingers. If ever there had been doubts about her attraction to him, they were surely vanishing by the window at the moment._

" _It's true; you're not wearing any panties." He moaned the sound of these words, while letting his fingers discovering every inch of her private self, under her loud panting sounds. "Not sure you're ready for me, ready for this, Katerina? At the moment, I could give a fuck about romantic preliminaries, I want to rip my shirt open, and push myself deeper than any other man have ever been inside of you until you'll beg me for mercy."_

_Katerina opened her eyes in shock, while catching her breath under his say, with redness coloring her cheeks, before locking her sight with the one of her husband._

" _Then what are you waiting for?" She suggested, before lowering her head and nibbling on the corners of his lips._

" _Erotic sorceress…" He murmured the words, before crashing his demanding mouth on hers, his hands buried in her lustrous curls, his tongue sliding between her parted lips, before tasting the heavenly taste of the wine on her own tongue._

_He frantically reached to grab the two panels of the shirt, before ripping the fabric opened, and pushing Katerina's trembling body back in a lying position on the hard surface of the desk. In no time, he got rid of his man clothes, while lowering his pants and boxer to his knees. There was not time to make a fashion statement; his dirty, naughty, aroused mind was set on one goal and one goal only!_

_She let out a loud cry at the exact time that his hard member entered the narrowest of her core's walls in a profound push that left her breathless._

_Elijah immobilized himself in her depth, while lowering his head on her trembling chest, under his own sounds of pleasure and arousal. He pushed the delicate lace fabric of her bra, before sucking and biting softly the aroused tip of her right breast. Katerina bent her back, while encircling his pelvic bones of her legs, before sinking her nails into the manly skin of his muscular back._

_He responded to her sensual motions by reprising his deep thrusts inside of her, each one faster and deeper than the previous one, leading both of them, and faster than anticipated, toward their mutual climax._

* * *

_The vibrant ringer of Elijah's blackberry reasoned in the silence of the bedroom. The Original vampire strengthened his right arm toward the nightstand under his growls of anger. Who would have the pretention of waking "them" up so early in the morning? That person could already recite a prayer for his/her life._

" _Yes!" He shouted in the phone._

" _Mister Mikaelson, I'm so sorry to disturb you, once again, this is Miranda." His secretary stammered the words, nervously._

" _And, why are you calling me this time?" He asked, in a blurry state of mind, while grabbing the alarm clock to take a glimpse at the present time._

" _Well, it's near ten o'clock, Mister Mikaelson, and you were scheduled to meet with the Japanese congregation, at ten thirty, you remember?" She asked._

" _Vaguely…." He responded, while stroking his eyelids. "Well, postpone the meeting, Miranda."_

" _But, but … Sir, what am I supposed to tell them?" Miranda asked, dumbfounded._

" _Tell them that I intend to pass the day in bed while making passionate love to my wife." He responded, smirking, before closing the line on her._

_He got back under the blankets while sliding his strong hands around Katerina's waist._

" _I'm very surprised, Mister Mikaelson." She smiled heavenly, while keeping her eyes closed, her back turned, with her head resting on the pillow._

" _Why is that, Mrs. Mikaelson?" He asked, smirking, his hands sliding on her hips, his lips nibbling on the right side of her neck._

" _You choose me over your work." She confessed, while opening her eyes, before turning her head and drowning her sight in his. "Thank you." She murmured, truthfully, while caressing the virile line of his jaw._

" _That's because my beautiful wife has put a strong and powerful spell on me, forbidding me to leave this room and her side." Elijah replied, while winking at her. "Are you up to it; are you up to stay in bed all day with me, Katerina?" He asked, mocker, while sliding a strand of hair behind her ear._

_Katerina smiled to her husband, before kissing him softly on his lips._

" _I'm up to it." She responded, with a blissful smile from ear to ear, before feeling Elijah's muscular body climbing on hers, and his demanding mouth crashing on her trembling lips._

* * *

" _Maria is there any chocolate cupcakes left?" Carolina asked the governess, while leaning her upper body on the kitchen arch door._

_Maria turned on herself, while grinning and rolling her eyes to the ceiling, before taking a few walking steps to reach the fridge._

" _I know you too well; therefore, I've saved two for you, Mrs. Carolina." Maria replied, smiling, while handing a plate to the young Russian._

" _Oh, you're an angel!" Carolina smiled from ear to ear, before grabbing the plate from Maria's hands. "спасибо" She thanked her in Russian. "It means "thank you" in my natal language."_

" _I figured that much." Maria said. "And you are mostly welcome." She added, while taking a good look at the young woman. "I love the scarf around your head, it's very bohemian." She added, smiling. "And as bohemian goes, you already had the bare feet." She winked._

" _You think so?" Carolina blushed, while raising her hands to touch the fabric._

" _The new artist has found her calling." Maria added. "It gives you a beautiful style of your own."_

" _I'm far from being an artist. I'm just learning." Carolina nodded her head, humbly at Maria. "The fee for the second level needs to be paid, and I was wondering if you knew where my sister's husband was?" She questioned the governess._

_Maria coughed discreetly, while lowering her head._

" _Well, your sister and Mr. Mikaelson are in bed." She replied, blushing, but with a smile plastered on her lips._

" _They are in bed?" Carolina repeated, while taking a quick glimpse at her watch. "But it's five in the afternoon."_

" _Mm, Mm…" Maria mumbled the sound, while raising an eyebrow._

" _Oh! They are "in bed"!" Carolina exclaimed, while smirking. "I understand. I'm happy for them." She added, truthfully, while grabbing the plate and heading toward the exit._

" _Miss Carolina?" Maria called._

" _Yes?" She replied, while turning her head toward the governess._

" _You'll be happy one day soon." She added, with a smile._

_Carolina nodded her head discreetly, before leaving the kitchen._

* * *

_The last two months at the art school had given Carolina an energy boost. She was happy to wake up in the morning, full of energy, enthusiastic, while being hopeful that her day would be filled with new amazing technics to learn. Alaric Saltzman was a brilliant art teacher, and she was learning a lot with him as theory goes, but the practice was much harder for her._

_It had been a joy to have met Bonnie also. She was hip, outgoing and totally honest, the kind of persona and friend that Carolina needed in her new life in London._

_She was sitting on a wooden stool in front of her trestle, late day, with the rays of sunshine entering the windows of the art shop. She raised her sight on the canvas, majorly unhappy with the result at the moment. She had been asked to paint a set of unanimated objects, but she was not able to achieve the right technic yet._

_She sighed in frustration, while lowering her sight on the two cupcakes, before regaining her smile and grabbing one, her front teeth attacking the frosting a second later. She closed her eyes while moaning with pleasure… Heaven on earth… And then …_

_Her heart skipped a beat. She lowered the cupcake back on the plate, while raising her right hand over her raising chest, higher near her throat, without being able to let air into her lungs._

_**Calm down Carolina, calm down** _ _… She murmured to herself to lower the effects of her panic attack, while gently rubbing her throat to help her breathe. She finally managed to take deep breaths into her lung, her chest rising higher under the pressure._

_This particular noise sound of boots hitting the marble floor of the nearby corridor, she remembered …. She remembered that particular sound way too well, because she had heard it before … Six months ago, when her husband had left her side … When Klaus Mikaelson had left the mansion and his married life behind him._

_She crossed her hands on her lap to keep them for trembling, before closing her eyes… He was standing on the threshold of the art shop. She did not need to turn around to assure herself of that fact … She could feel his presence near her._

_Klaus stood motionless for a few minutes, while scattering the art shop that had been condemned by him many years ago. He dropped his helmet and backpack on a nearby table, before taking a few walking steps in the clean room, while pulling his motorcycle gloves off his hands._

" _Why is the art shop reopened?" She heard his deep English voice asked her._

_Carolina reopened her eyes, under her breathing spasms. She tried to articulate a sound, but her lips were frozen under a trembling compulsion. She closed her eyes while taking another deep breath into her lungs._

" _I…" She let out the sound, before straightening her upper body on the stool and continuing. "I've started art classes and Maria thought that it would not bother you if I borrowed the space to practice." She managed to articulate the sentence without stuttering._

_He finally turned his head toward her, his empty sight sliding from Carolina's head to her toes._

_Carolina held her breath while feeling her heartbeats rising drastically in her chest. She kept her sight in his, while study his all allure of the moment: A beard was covering his facial features, and as for his hair, longer locks were falling freely on his shoulders. His clothes were dirty and ripped._

" _I thought you would have left by now?" He asked._

" _Well you thought wrong." She responded, while breathing loudly. "I'm a married woman."_

" _And a stubborn one, I gave you six months to bail out." He added, while lowering his sight away from hers._

" _And in return I gave the same courtesy of waiting for my husband the same amount of time." She replied, slyly, tit for tat._

_He frowned while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat, before taking slow calculated steps to reach her sitting position._

_Caroline saw a couple of black post in front of her eyes. It was certainly not the time to pass out in front of him; she needed to keep her calm and assurance by all cost._

_He reached her position in front of the trestle, before slowly raising his trembling hand near the scarf wrapped around her head._

_She closed her eyes, unable to watch, unable to deal with the mixed, contradictory feelings that this man created in her heart, mind and soul._

_He pulled on the extremity of the scarf, before removing the fabric around Carolina's head. She kept her eyes closed while hearing the pounding sound of her heart echoing in her ears._

" _You cut your hair." He softly whispered with his breath touching her face._

_She stood motionless, while feeling a range of goosepumbs hitting her entire body all at once, but without knowing if they were out of fear of excitement?_

_Klaus slowly raised his right hand near her short locks, before enrolling one around his finger. He took an extra step, while standing in a close proximity of her sitting position, before lowering his head, closing his eyes and smelling the perfume of her hair._

_**Breathe Carolina, breathe** _ _… She repeated to herself, in her mind, while closing her eyes and shaking like a leaf, which he rapidly noticed._

" _I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" He stammered the words, while detaching himself of his wife, like he had been burned by a raging fire._

" _It's ok." She managed the respond, while reopening her eyes._

_He turned his sight toward the canvas, while studying her work, before grabbing the other cupcake and biting into it._

" _Don't, please … Really it's only a draft… I'm finishing level 1 at the art school and obviously, I still know nothing about drawing and painting." She mumbled the words, while rubbing her opened palms nervously on her lap._

" _It's not that bad." Klaus responded, while studying her technic. "Did Elijah pay for the courses?" He suddenly asked, while finishing the cake in one last bite, and taking her off guard at the same time._

" _Eh … What… Well, yes, he paid for the fees and the material." She replied, while blushing._

" _I left you with credit cards and money." He responded, with a neutral tone, while still observing her work. "Why did you ask my brother?"_

" _Because you were not present for me to ask you, and I … I refused to use either of them while you were gone." She explained._

" _When you make the outlines of your inanimate objects, you hold your brushes too strongly, which create a line that is too straight." He informed her, while changing radically the subject, before grabbing a brush in one of the color pot. "Give me your right hand, Carolina." He gently asked her, while creating a shiver in her spine at the sound of her name._

_She raised her shaking right arm to him. He made her hold the brush with her right hand, while closing his fingers on hers, before placing himself behind the stool, his chest glued to her back._

" _Let me direct your hand." He whispered the words near her right ear, the warm of his breath caressing her cheek._

_**Don't freak out, Carolina, don't freak out** _ _… She said silently to herself, while closing her eyes for a few seconds._

_He directed her hands near the canvas before stroking the paint softly on the outlines._

" _You see, if you paint in small touches instead of a straight line the effect is lighter, rounder, and more precise." He explained to her._

" _Yes, I do see it." Carolina watched carefully the canvas in front of her sight, with a timid smile plastered on her lips. "I feel the difference with each stroke when you are directing me." She added, enthusiastically._

" _With that technic you'll be able to give a three dimensional effect to your painting." He added to her._

_She turned her head to the right, while being suddenly placed at a near inch of distance from his._

" _Thank you." She mumbled the words, while holding her breath, her sight fixated on his lips._

_He nodded his head, before suddenly releasing her hand from his own grip, and taking a few steps away from his wife._

" _I'll take one of the guest suites. I'm tired, we'll talk tomorrow." He informed her, while grabbing his backpack and helmet on the table, before storming out of the art shop without another word._

_Carolina buried her head in her shaking hands to help her regain her composure._

_Klaus Mikaelson, "her" husband has finally returned home …_


	12. Family ties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story, that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia…** _

_(…)_

" _Let me direct your hand." He whispered the words near her right ear, the warm of his breath caressing her cheek._

_**Don't freak out, Carolina, don't freak out** _ _… She said silently to herself, while closing her eyes for a few seconds._

_He directed her hands near the canvas before stroking the paint softly on the outlines._

" _You see, if you paint in small touches instead of a straight line the effect is lighter, rounder, and more precise." He explained to her._

" _Yes, I do see it." Carolina watched carefully the canvas in front of her sight, with a timid smile plastered on her lips. "I feel the difference with each stroke when you are directing me." She added, enthusiastically._

" _With that technic you'll be able to give a three dimensional effect to your painting." He added to her._

_She turned her head to the right, while being suddenly placed at a near inch of distance from his._

" _Thank you." She mumbled the words, while holding her breath, her sight fixated on his lips._

_He nodded his head, before suddenly releasing her hand from his own grip, and taking a few steps away from his wife._

" _I'll take one of the guest suites. I'm tired, we'll talk tomorrow." He informed her, while grabbing his backpack and helmet on the table, before storming out of the art shop without another word._

_Carolina buried her head in her shaking hands to help her regain her composure._

_Klaus Mikaelson, "her" husband has finally returned home …_

* * *

_Klaus dressed his muscular legs with a pair of faded jeans, before walking chest naked and bare feet into the bedroom area of the guest suite, while drying his hair with a clean body towel. It was the best night he had experienced since his departure from London six months ago, and this only for the few hours of sleep that he had been able to catch inside the walls of the manor, or was it because he knew "she" was close by from him?_

_He rubbed the body towel on his long golden locks, while also chaffing his bearded chin. Apparently, a visit to the barber/hairdresser would not be a luxury to this point. He wrapped the towel around his neck, before raising his head and immobilizing all his movements at the view of his wife sitting at the feet of his bed._

" _You mentioned yesterday that you wanted to talk in the morning. Well, it's the morning." Carolina said, firmly while rubbing her hands together, before raising her head and locking her sight in her husband's. "Let's talk!" She reaffirmed._

_Klaus frowned, before placing his closed fists on each side of his waist, while keeping his sight locked in hers. Courage, determination, and stubbornness were the three traits that you could discover in a simple glimpse into her eyes._

_Carolina lowered her sight away from his muscular naked chest, while hiding her flushed cheeks to her husband._

" _Then I'll talk, and you'll listen." He replied, in a firmer tone of voice. "I want for you to be free of "me", Carolina." He added. "I gave you the necessary time the past few months to exit this ludicrous contract of ours."_

" _I fulfilled the conditions of the contract six months ago, and I'd exchanged vows with "you"; you'll have to forgive me if I am not able to act as cowardly as you are, at the moment." Carolina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

_Klaus closed his fists tighter, while sighing loudly. How much stubborn could she be? He threw the body towel on a nearby chair, before taking the last steps to reach her standing position._

" _If it is money that you are worrying about, you'll have plenty, you will never have to worry about being poor again, Carolina." He replied, while bending his head near hers._

" _Я не забочусь о деньгах, и ты это знаешь!" She busted, angrily, in Russian, while rising on her legs and signifying her reluctance about taking her husband's money. "And I am not a luxury doll that you'll keep behind a window and away from you."_

" _You'll need that money to start your new life, and this subject is not debatable." He replied, firmly. "And I never thought that you were a luxury doll, Love, far from it."_

" _You have met someone?" She asked, unexpectedly, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat. "While … While being away all these months?"_

_Klaus sighed loudly, while raising his head, before closing his eyes. The easy answer would be: yes! It would put Carolina at arm length, while pushing her toward her freedom, but he couldn't hurt her this way. Not after what had happened between them._

" _No" He simply replied, while nervously passing a hand through his hair._

" _But you wish to meet someone else, perhaps?" She added, curiously. "You wish for me to disappear, because you wish to start new? If so, just tell me, I'll leave."_

_Damn her, damn her! This would be so easy to say if the circumstances were different, but seeing his own refection in her teary eyes was too much for him to handle._

" _I don't need or wish to have a woman in my life as of now." He replied, simply. "Is this clear enough for you?"_

" _Because you have conveniently forgotten, the past six months, that you have a wife, who's waiting for you at home?" She busted into his face, while closing her fists in anger._

" _Oh believe me, sweetheart, I couldn't forget about my "wife" even if I wanted to erase you from my memory." He growled, while containing his temper. "It's all that I had in my head the past six months: you, you and always you!" He lashed out at her, while pointing a finger to his right temple._

" _I'm so sorry to have been an inconvenience in the pathetic life of a rich playboy who decided one day that he was bored and would buy himself a wife!" She lashed out at his face. "Pardon me to be as stupid as wanting to give you another chance, to give "our" marriage another chance." She added, before turning on her heels in the intention of storming out of the suite._

_Klaus muscles tensed due to his raising anger toward himself, and the fact that she was too stubborn to even understand what would be good for her._

_He walked rapidly to reach Carolina, before grabbing her right upper arm, and pulling her frail body at a close proximity of his. It was easy for him to notice that she had lost a considerable amount of weight the past few months; her bones were almost showing underneath her skin._

" _Let go of my arm!" She warned him, while trying to free herself._

" _What will it take for you to understand that I'm damaged, that I will destroy every pieces of yourself that is good, while only leaving behind the shadow of what you used to be, Carolina!" He lashed out at her._

_She raised her teary eyes in the ones of Klaus, while letting out a cry, before hitting his chest with her closed fists, all the past months of anger, disappointment, sadness suddenly rising out of her system._

_He let Carolina hit him several times with all that she got of strength left in her. In a weird twist of faith, it was delivering Klaus of his own resentment toward himself. She finally let herself fall on the wooden floor, while burying her head in her hands, deep cries of despair getting out of her throat, tears rolling fluently on her face._

_Klaus shut his eyes, while sighing loudly. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing her cry this way. It reminded him too well of the tears she had shed on their wedding night._

" _Please don't cry, Carolina" He begged her, while nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair._

_The cries and the tears intensified, leaving Carolina under intense spasms while gasping for air to enter her lungs. He let himself fall on the floor at her side, before raising his shaking right hand near her head._

" _I beg you, please don't cry, Love." He murmured, softly, while sliding the short strands of blonde hair that were falling on her forehead. "I can't bear to hear you cry." He added, with a broken voice, before raising her chin and teary face to his sight. "Shh… Stop crying." He murmured to calm her down._

_Carolina finally managed to take a deep breath into her lungs, while raising her sight in the one of her husband, her vision blurred by her tears, before feeling the raging heartbeats in her chest._

_He cupped her face in his hands, while lowering his head near hers, before closing his eyes and slowly kissing the remaining tears that were falling from her eyelashes._

" _Don't cry … Please don't cry … It's … It's tearing me apart to see you this hurt, Carolina." He whispered, while leaving a trail of kisses on her cheeks. "That's why I left, because … Because I can't bear to see you sad." He added, while lowering his lips at the corners on her lips._

_He reopened his eyes, before drowning his sight in the one of his wife, his lips at a near inch of distance of Carolina's. She let out of her mouth a profound sigh, while closing her eye, before half-opening her lips. Like a firefly attracted by the darkness of the night, Klaus broke the remaining distance between them, before slowly nibbling on her bottom lips._

_Carolina let out a small moan, while slowly raising her fingers on the bare skin of his chest, higher on his shoulders to help her keep her equilibrium, while suddenly feeling light headed._

_He intensified the embrace by kissing her lips tenderly, but without forcing her into a deeper exchange, before sliding his hands around her waist, while gently bringing her to sit on his lap, in the warmest of his arms._

_She got closer while pressing her trembling chest on his, her fingers finding the softness of his longer locks at the base of his neck, while suddenly hearing his growls of pleasure, before moaning pleasurably herself, under the assault of his tongue invading the wetness of her mouth._

_Klaus's left hand grabbed the base of Carolina's neck, while deepening the intensity of his kisses, his mouth devouring hers after so many months of starvation in the desert of his loneliness. He started rubbing her body with his left hand, while hearing her breathing intensify. He detached his mouth from hers, while lowering his lips on the silkiness of her neck, his hands rising on the naked skin of her back, underneath her light sweater._

_Carolina lowered her head backward, while giving him a free access to her neck and neckline, under the heavy sound of her intensifying breaths, before grabbing two hands full of his golden curls. She suddenly let out a cry of surprise, while pushing herself away._

" _What?" Klaus asked, in surprise. "Did I hurt you?" He added, while caressing her short hair._

_She shook her head, while swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _I won't … I won't try anything that you don't want." He found within himself the courage to say._

" _It's not that." She shook her head more. "It's your beard, it's tickling me." She explained, honestly, with a timid smile._

" _Oh …" He let out a sigh of relief, before closing his eyes to regain his calm. When he reopened them, she was standing near the entrance door of the suite._

" _I … I need to practice for my art school." She added, with flushed cheeks, before storming out of the suite, under Klaus speechless and dumbfounded expression._

* * *

_Katerina felt the coldness of the ceramic wall under the skin of her left cheek, drops of water from the shower head sliding erotically on her neck, down between her sensitive breasts, to finally perish near her pelvic bone, with her heavy breathing slowing down over the rapid beats of her heart. She closed her eyes, while feeling the warmth and weight of her husband naked body leaning on her back, his hands slowly rising on the length of her arms, before interlacing his fingers with hers. Katherine's opened palms now placed on the cold wall._

_It had been more than twenty four hours now that they haven't left the bedroom suite, if only for a few times that Elijah had discreetly stepped away to check the urgencies at his office, and bring back food for them to eat._

" _It's your fault, woman!" He managed to whisper, his mind in the blur of the aftermath of their lovemaking, while slowly sliding his length out of her core. "You were the one who gave me the "dare" that I would not be able to make it for another round. Did you learn a thing or two about your husband now?" He mocked, while lowering his head in the crucible of her left shoulder, his soft lips brushing the softness of her neck._

_She lowered her head on his muscular chest, while sighing with pleasure, a smile spreading from ear to ear on her lips._

" _Mm… I would say that I married a pretentious man who always needs and wants to be right." She mocked, gently, while turning her head to drown her sight in Elijah's._

" _A woman who knows one of my biggest flaws and is still accepting it gracefully, it's a rare quality; there are good chances that I will keep you by my side, Katerina." He responded, smirking, while lowering his hands on her thin waist, before lowering his head to softly kiss her lips._

_She slowly pulled herself away from his embrace, while smiling timidly, a veil of sadness covering her eyes._

" _Hey?" He called her, while raising her chin with his left hand. "Your "my wife", you're mine in every possible way now, you won't go anywhere, I wouldn't allow it." He promised, while caressing her right cheek._

" _You say that now … but …" Katerina whispered, timidly, while gently taking a step away from his embrace, before grabbing a bottle of shampoo on the marble alcove._

" _No…" He shook his head, while cupping her face with both hands. "I've never said "that", Katerina." He affirmed, while sliding strands of her wet hair behind her ears. "You're the first and only one, beautiful." He added to his wife._

_Katerina lowered her flushed cheeks and sight away from his insistent glaze, while closing her eyes._

" _What is it? What is tormenting your beautiful mind this way?" He asked, softly, while kissing her forehead, before grabbing the bottle of shampoo from her hands._

" _Nothing…" She replied, while shaking her head, before raising her eyes in his._

' _Turn around." He ordered, nicely._

" _Why?" She asked, a smile spreading over her lips._

" _I want to wash your hair." He replied, smiling._

" _It's ok, I can do it." She replied, while trying to grab the bottle from Elijah's hand._

" _Tsk, tsk, tsk … But you won't enjoy it as much as I will." He added, while bringing her head underneath the hot water of the shower._

_Katerina closed her eyes, while enjoying the sensations of his fingers massaging her scalp, in slow, delightful, sensual movements._

" _It's nice." She sighed, pleasurably._

" _Mutual pleasure is always enjoyable, Katerina." He whispered, softly, while rinsing the foam from her curly locks. "You have such gorgeous hair; I love the soft sensation between my fingers." He added, while slowly lowering his hands on the crucible of her back, before encircling her waist._

" _Maybe I tricked you into liking what you see?" She mumbled her scary thoughts, out loud._

" _The first time I saw you, Katerina… I kept wondering all day what your lips would taste underneath mine." He confessed, honestly. "The second time I've heard your voice, I wondered if you would moan pleasurably in my arms one day." He added, while grabbing her chin and turning her head to lock his sight with hers. "You did not trick me into this, I wanted to possess you the first second I saw you."_

" _But …" She protested, in shock._

" _I pushed you at arm length not because I was not attracted to you sexually, but more because …" He started explaining, before closing his eyes for a few seconds. "I wanted to give you the chance to leave with your sister if her wish was as such." He added, before sighing loudly. "Plus, I wasn't sure if you were attracted to me."_

_Tears filled her eyes, soon followed by an intense emotion infiltrating Katerina's soul. That man that she was calling her husband had a "soul" and a code of honor that she had never seen in any men before him._

" _Thank you." She managed to murmur, while turning her body around to face him, before sliding her trembling hands on his bare chest, her arms encircling his neck a few seconds later. "I want you..." She added, before brushing her lips on his. "And it's not because of the "contract" but … Because I'm sincerely attracted to you." She told him, shyly._

_Elijah stared at her for a few seconds, while noticing the honest truth reflecting in the deepness of her eyes. He lowered his head near Katerina's, before capturing her lips into a passionate kiss._

_He deepened his kiss, while sliding his hands on her bottom, raising her trembling body in his arms, her legs soon crossed around his waist, before pushing her on the ceramic wall of the shower._

_One sure thing, Elijah Mikaelson would arrive at a later hour at his downtown office this morning …_

* * *

" _You forgot your blazer in the bedroom." Katerina informed Elijah, while entering his study room. "Oh I'm so sorry, I wasn't aware that you were on the phone!" She added, before sliding her right hand over her mouth._

" _It's ok!" He mouthed the words, while signing his wife to approach him._

" _Transfer the appointment of the Chinese delegation for this afternoon at 14:00; I have a personal matter to take care this morning." He confirmed to his secretary, before ending the conversation with his secretary. "Hi!" He smiled._

" _Hi!" Katerina replied, while handing the blazer to her husband. "You forgot your jacket upstairs." She added, once more, while blushing._

" _Thanks." He replied, while grabbing it from her hands, before dressing himself._

" _Your tie is croaked." She informed him, while gesturing with her hands._

_Elijah lowered his sight on his chest, while trying to loosen up the knot._

" _Let me." She suggested, while approaching his standing position, before raising her shaking hands on the narrowed piece of fabric. "There, now your look is impeccable." She said, proudly, while wiping lint on his blazer, before taking a step away._

" _I'll be back early." He informed her, while drowning his fiery sight in hers._

" _You always come back late from your office." She shrugged, with flushed cheeks. "It's ok, I don't mind."_

" _It was before." He winked at her._

" _It was before what?" She asked, breathless._

" _It was before I noticed my uncontrollable need to make love to my wife all the time." He added mocker, while grabbing a file on his desktop._

_Katerina lowered his sight on the file that he was carrying, before noticing its label:_ _**Maria - Medical record.** _ _He opened his files cabinet, while sliding the record inside, before closing the lock with a key._

_Elijah grabbed his briefcase on his desktop, before reaching Katerina's standing position, while sliding a hand around her waist._

" _I see you tonight, beautiful." He added, softly, while kissing her forehead. "And by the way, my brother is back, and I don't want for you to worry or get upset about it." He added, as a warning, while drowning his sight into hers._

" _What?" She exclaimed, in shock. "When did he come back?"_

" _I said: Don't worry!" He added, while stealing a kiss on her lips, before leaving his home office._

_To this point Katerina wasn't sure which of the two surprises was more disturbing: knowing that her husband had in his possession a medical file on his own governess, Maria, or knowing that her sister's husband was back in the manor?_

* * *

_Maria finished pre-scrubbing the cauldron, before opening the dishwasher to insert it inside, on the rail._

" _My "husband" came back!" Maria suddenly heard the voice exclamation, before turning on herself to face Carolina._

" _I know, my child." The governess nodded, discreetly, while closing the water facet, before wiping her wet hands on a kitchen towel. "And … How do you feel about his return?" Maria added, a timid smile blessing her lips, before crossing her arms in front of her chest._

_Carolina raised her sight in the one of the governess, before shrugging her shoulders._

" _I don't know, I …" Carolina started, while nervously rubbing her hands together, before taking a sitting position on a kitchen stool. "I have mixed feelings about him … His return … Our relationship." She replied, honestly, while shaking her head._

" _Your husband is known to create a general discomfort at the first minute you meet him." Maria mocked. "He can't be considered as an ordinary man, you know?"_

" _He… wants me to … Start my life new… Away from him … He wants me to be "free"." She stammered the words to the governess, while lowering her sight on her crossed hands._

" _Oh dear…I thought the time away from England would have soothed his demons, my bad obviously." Maria let out a sigh, while lowering her head. "How do you feel about his wish? Do you share it? Do you want a divorce? Do you wish to start new, Mrs. Carolina?"_

_Carolina shrugged some more, before wrapping her arms around herself._

" _No, I don't think I want that… But I should want "that"… I should want to run away from him, and … And most of the time, I think that I'm not normal for staying here and … And to have waited for that man return." She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _Then, why did you stay my child?" Maria asked, softly. "Is it because a part of you is attracted to your husband, and that you're battling the strong feelings you have for him?"_

' _We… Sometimes, I think that we are so much alike." She confessed, shamelessly, while blushing. "I'm not making any sense I know." She added, while shaking her head, before grabbing her short hair with two hands. "I'm so mixed up at the moment. We … We kissed this morning."_

_Maria arched one eyebrow in surprise, while raising her sight in the one of the young woman._

" _How do you feel about that kiss?" Maria asked, openly._

" _I … I wasn't repulsed by it." Carolina shrugged. "I kind of liked it." She added. "That is why I think there must be something wrong with me."_

" _For being attracted to your husband after his inconsiderate actions on your wedding night?" Maria suggested as an answer._

" _Yes" Carolina let out the word out of her mouth._

" _Mm…" Maria nodded. "I understand, but a "wrong" is not necessarily erasing all the "rights"."_

" _What do you mean?" Carolina asked the governess._

" _Well, to put it in a simpler manner, his unforgettable action toward you will not erase the fact that you have been attracted to him since the first day you have raised your sight on him. Neither will it erase the feelings you've developed for him instead of hating him." Maria explained, while tilting her head._

_Carolina lowered her head to hide her flushed cheeks, before taking a few deep breaths into her lungs._

" _What would you wish to happen now?" Maria asked more._

" _I wish that none of what happened would exist." Carolina replied. "I wish that I could undo some of the events of my life."_

" _Oh my child, if only I had a magic wand." Maria replied, before taking a sitting position on a stool, in front of Carolina. "What you're wishing is natural and is what many of us desire, for the past to suddenly disappear, but we will never be granted with such a gift. And if we are granted with it, it's probably not as good as it seems, believe me, I know what I am talking about." She added to the young Russian, with a veil of sadness covering her eyes. "This said my child, do you wish to never have met your husband?"_

" _No! Yes! I don't know … For a strange reason I can't envision my life without him." Caroline exclaimed spontaneously, while raising her sight in the one of Maria. "And that is scarring me more than anything, Maria, this connection that I feel for my husband."_

" _I do!" A voice confirmed. "I wish you would have never laid your eyes on that man." Katerina added, while narrowing her sight on her sister, before stepping inside the kitchen._

" _Well, my marriage is not of your business, Katerina." Carolina replied, slyly._

_Maria rose on her legs from her sitting position, while timidly smiling at the eldest of the two sisters._

" _Mrs. Katerina." The governess nodded as a greeting, in an uncomfortable manner._

"" _He" came back as I gathered?" Katerina said out loud, more as a fact than a real question._

" _Yes, and it shouldn't be of your concern, Katerina." Carolina warned her._

" _What did he say to you?" Katerina asked, while bending her upper body near Carolina's. "Did he finally have the courage to freeing you from the contract?"_

" _What part of none of your business did you not understood?" Carolina replied, while turning her sight in the one of her sister._

" _Which part I did not understood? None of them! Because you're my sister and I want you to find happiness!" Katerina yelled back._

" _Ladies, lower your tone of voices, it's really not appropriate." Maria tried to intervene, while rolling her eyes to the ceiling._

" _Why don't you go back to your "loveless" marriage while I take care of mine?" Caroline lashed out, meanly, at her sister._

_In shock over her sister say, Katerina took a step backward, while taking deep breaths into her lungs._

" _Ok, that is enough!" Maria raised her voice, while directing her steps toward the fridge, before pulling a chocolate cake from its inside. "Now sit, and eat a piece of this cake in silence, and this is not a request, it's an order!"_

_The two sisters stared at each other for a few extra seconds, before taking their sitting positions at the kitchen island, while pouting and poking their forks in their dessert plate placed in front of their sights, as only sound to fill the awkwardness._

" _Maria?" Katerina finally called, while raising her sight timidly at the governess._

" _Yes, Mrs. Katerina?" Maria replied, while meeting her gaze._

" _I … I came across a medical file, with your name on it, in my husband's office." Katerine admitted._

" _What?" Carolina said, surprised, while raising her head and sight at the governess. "Are you sick, Maria?"_

" _No, I can assure you that my health is perfectly fine." She reassured the youngest. "As for you, Mrs. Katerina, what could possess you to go snooping around in your husband private files, not to mention my employer?"_

" _I wasn't snooping around, Maria; the file was literally placed in front of my sight on the desktop, and I saw your name on it." Katerina objected. "Plus there is nothing private about it, if this file is concerning "you". You should be able to have access to it." She added, while gesturing with her arms in disapproval._

" _It's common for employers to have a file on their employees." Maria replied, while rubbing her hands nervously. "Therefore, it's none of my business."_

" _What if inside this file you could find information on what you're worrying about?" Katerina pushed the issue._

" _Are you in remission from cancer, Maria?" Carolina asked, on the edge of her seat, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. She had grown attached to the governess the last few months._

" _No, I'm not in remission or anything of the sort." Maria replied, while nodding her head. "Could we please put this subject to rest, Mrs. Katerina." She begged the eldest._

" _Why would you bring that up, if she is fine?" Carolina mumbled, while taking a glimpse at Katerina._

" _Because she told me that she was worrying about a specific aspect of her health." Katerina busted at her sister. "You think I would put my nose in her personal business otherwise?"_

" _That is what you always do, Katerina!" Carolina lashed out, while stepping away from her sitting position. "You put your nose where it doesn't belong, while shattering the life of others."_

" _I'm amnesic!" Maria exclaimed, in hope of putting an end to the sisters' confrontation._

" _What?" Both sisters replied, simultaneously, while turning their heads toward the governess._

" _I … I'd lost my memory several years ago, and therefore my life in this manor, and my new attributed name is all that I can recall." She made the confession, while rubbing her hands nervously together._

" _But … You gave us lace handkerchiefs, the day of our weddings; you told us it was a family heirloom?" Carolina murmured, in shock._

" _It is! I had a few items in my possession when I've lost my memory." Maria nodded, with her explanation. "I beg you to believe me, Mrs. Carolina and Mrs. Katerina, I was truthful to you."_

" _More reasons for you to see the content of this file, Maria." Katerina begged her to reconsider._

" _No, I won't agree to this!" Maria shook her head. "Mrs. Katerina, It's highly unethical." She added._

" _Then, I'll do it for you!" Katerina responded, firmly, while turning on her heels, before storming out of the kitchen._

* * *

" _Your downtown office, Elijah, how unexpected to have our "usual" quarrel in here?" Klaus said, sarcastically, while closing the office door behind his back._

_Elijah slowly turned to face his brother, from his standing position in front of the panoramic view of London._

" _You've always known me as unpredictable, Niklaus." He replied to his brother. "Sporting a new look? Biker on the run style, I suppose?" Elijah mocked, while approaching Klaus's standing position._

" _I prefer to call it: "Don't tell me how to run my life" look, Elijah." Klaus replied, tit for tat, to his brother._

_Elijah shook his head, with a smile spreading from ear to ear on his face._

" _Aww…Niklaus, the forever misunderstood soul of this family." He added, while unexpectedly pulling his right hand from his trouser front pocket, before punching his brother jaw with a good hit of his closed fist._

_On the impact, Klaus lost his balance before landing on a side table, soon followed by the hardness of the floor hitting his spine._

" _This is for abandoning your wife six months ago!" Elijah lashed out at his brother, before rubbing his right hand._

" _What the bloody hell, Elijah?" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while trying to get up._

" _You had it coming, Klaus." Elijah replied, angrily, while pointing a finger at him. "You left her hanging for your return while avoiding the responsibilities that were yours to begin with."_

" _I did it for "her", Elijah!" Klaus lashed out to his brother. "By doing so, I was freeing her of my presence, giving her a free path to leave." He added, angrily._

" _Well, apparently the girl must be a fool, because she doesn't want to leave you!" Elijah busted. "How ironic is that really? That the only human soul, who's willing to learn to love you unconditionally, is the same that you are pushing away?"_

_Klaus lowered his head, shamelessly, while sighing loudly._

" _Not everyone can be in marital bliss like you!" Klaus mumbled between his teeth._

" _I'm far from being in marital bliss!" Elijah growled the words. "Or did you conveniently forget that neither of the sisters knows who we really are?"_

" _Damn I missed the opening number!" They heard a voice exclaimed, while turning their heads simultaneously toward the entrance door. "You couldn't wait for my arrival to break his jaw, Elijah?" Stefan Salvatore mocked, while lowering his upper body near the hybrid lying position, before presenting his right hand to Klaus. "Look who's finally back home? My good friend Klaus! Let me help you?" Stefan offered his help._

" _Go to hell Salvatore!" Klaus growled, while pushing the vampire hand away from his sight. He got on his knees on his own, before rising on his legs._

" _And he is back as his usual jerk's self, joy to the world!" Stefan added, smirking, while dropping his rain coat on the back of an armchair, before taking his sitting position._

" _Brandy?" Elijah offered, while reaching the bar console. "Or I could ask my secretary if you prefer coffee?"_

" _Brandy is fine. Thank you, Elijah." Stefan replied. "What is this new look, Nick? Woodsman meets the biker?" He added with an arched eyebrow and smile plastered on his face._

" _Shut your big mouth, Salvatore, if you know what is good for you." Klaus replied to him, before raising his hand to wipe a trickle of blood from his opened bottom lip._

" _Elijah you need to do something with your brother style, the macho – cavern man is so outdated." Stefan mocked more._

_Elijah approached the vampire sitting position, before handing a class to him._

" _Thank you." Salvatore replied to the Original._

" _You're not even going to offer me a drink, Elijah?" Klaus asked his brother, slyly, while purposely raising his biker boots on his desktop._

" _Any chance you could choke on it?" Elijah responded, while taking his sitting position back at his desk. "Mm… No? Then serve yourself!"_

" _Greetings my dear brothers!" Kol exclaimed, smirking, while entering Elijah's office. "What is Salvatore doing here?" He added, while frowning at the view of this nuisance._

" _Ok, Elijah … If this morning meeting was intended to make me suffer, you've just succeeded!" Klaus growled between his teeth, while glimpsing at the arrival of Kol._

" _Not everything is about "you", Niklaus." Elijah replied, while joining his hands in front of his chest._

" _Oh great … The puppet of your dysfunctional family just entered the premises." Stefan smirked at Elijah._

" _Salvatore, there are about thousands of ways that I could smash you dandy face, which one do you want? Personally I have a weakness for the baseball bat?" Kol asked, while directing his walk toward the bar. "Klaus? Scotch?" He asked his brother, while grabbing two glasses._

" _Make it a double." Klaus responded, while rubbing his eyelids with despair._

_Kol filled the two glasses, before walking toward Klaus's sitting positing and handing a glass to him._

" _Weren't you lost somewhere in Africa, Kol?" Stefan asked the youngest Original._

" _I was in Zambia to be more exact." Kol responded, reluctantly, while taking a sitting position on the edge of the window._

" _And the lions were not even interesting at tearing your carcass to shreds?" Stefan mocked, openly._

" _Is there a point to this lovely gathering?" Klaus asked Elijah, a sour expression plastered on his face, while drinking his glass in one gulp._

" _There's a werewolves mafia located in Russia." Elijah introduced. "This could at first impression seem insignificant, if the purpose of their pack was not introduced as a lethal threat to our own species."_

_Klaus raised his head in shock, while narrowing his sight on his brother._

" _How do you know about all of this?" Klaus asked, dumbfounded._

" _How do you?" Stefan asked his friend, while glimpsing at Klaus._

" _Mm… Doesn't matter, I got this information from one of my contacts in Germany." Klaus explained, vaguely._

" _You seem to always forget, Niklaus, that I'm always three steps in front of you." Elijah replied, with an arched eyebrow._

" _And, if I may put my contribution to this investigation, the instigator of this charming army is named:_ _ **Ludvig Petrov**_ _." Kol informed, under their speechless expressions. "What? You think I don't know all of this already? You all seem to forget how sneaky I can be on my own." He added, while shrugging his shoulders._

" _It's thoughtful of you to take time to remind us, Kol." Elijah replied, while rolling his eyes to the ceiling._

" _Here to oblige, brother." Kol smirked._

" _The vise seems to tighten on us." Stefan agreed. "He turned a huge amount of civilians into the werewolf gene."_

" _Niklaus, care to contribute?" Elijah asked, sarcastically, while smirking._

_Klaus raised on his legs before pacing back and forth in the opened space of the office._

" _This man is apparently one of the rare remaining hybrids, with myself included. His main purpose is not only to build the biggest army of werewolves, he also intends to kill the entire vampire species, and rebuild, under his leadership, a bigger, stronger one, of… hybrids!" Klaus explained, with both of his closed fists placed on each side of his waist._

" _Well, suddenly I feel threated!" Stefan said, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat. "But as for all of you, being Originals, your family is obviously safe."_

" _Everything in that man devious plan could work admirably for him, if not for one single element." Elijah added, while rising on his legs, his hands joined together in front of his face._

" _And that element is Klaus." Kol confirmed, while pointing a finger at his brother._

" _Being the ultimate antidote to all werewolf bite, he'll try to lure you into his side for sure, Niklaus." Elijah confirmed, while placing himself in front of his brother. "He doesn't want for you to save the species; he wants you to kill it."_

" _I could care less about this Ludvig, Elijah; I'm actually waiting for his arrival, with anticipation." Klaus responded to his brother._

" _Nobody knows when they'll make their first move, could be days, months, years?" Stefan added, while standing up. "But we need to be on our guards."_

" _Well, glad we are all up to date with this subject at hands, call me when he'll be in town." Klaus replied, while directing his walking steps toward the exit of the office._

" _Niklaus!" Elijah exclaimed the hybrid name, to retain him in the office._

" _What do you want now, Elijah?" Klaus asked, while holding his pace, but without turning to face his brother._

" _He has one loophole in his favor." Elijah informed him, his chest rising under his heavy breaths._

" _What is it?" Kol asked, intrigued, while jumping away from his perched sitting position on the window edge._

" _Family ties." Elijah announced, reluctantly, his sight lost in the emptiness of the room._

" _What are you saying, Elijah?" Klaus asked, while slowly turning on himself, before facing his brother._

" _He's related to you?" Stefan asked, in shocked, while pointing a finger at Elijah._

" _No, he's not related to me." Elijah affirmed, while shaking his head._

" _Elijah?" Klaus growled the warning, nervously, drops of sweat rolling on his forehead. "My patience is at its limit!"_

" _If my sources are reliable,_ _ **Ludvig Petrov**_ _, whose real name is actually "_ _ **Vlademar"**_ _is related to you, Niklaus." Elijah informed his brother. "He's your biological father." He added, before closing his eyes, and lowering his head._

* * *

" _Katerina!" Carolina yelled, while entering Elijah's office, with the governess following on her heels. "You can't do this! What will you do if Elijah comes back?"_

" _Already too late, I did it!" Katerina replied, proudly, while forcing the lock of the files cabinet. "He's at his downtown office, we are in the clear, not that it's your business, Carolina, why don't you mind your own "loveless" marriage?" She added, tit for tat, to her sister._

" _You just stoop to a new low, Petrova!" Carolina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _Oh dear Lord, my child… What are you doing?" Maria exclaimed, while raising a trembling hand over her chest._

" _Maria! I have a duplicate of your medical file in my hand, I'm not about to throw it away now!" Katerina exclaimed, excitedly, while raising the file in her right hand. "It's your right to know what the content of this file is. It's my husband who's in the wrong, if he is hiding something from you."_

" _My sister is not going to change her mind; I can assure you of that." Carolina confirmed to the governess, while shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "You're as stubborn as ever, Katerina, и действительно несговорчивого!" She added an insult in Russian._

" _Well if you were a little bit more pig-heated, you wouldn't be stock with "him"!" Katerina replied to her sister. "Maria? What do I do?"_

_Maria rubbed her hands nervously together, while glimpsing, alternatively, at both sisters._

" _This is completely against my code of ethics, Mrs. Katerina." Maria added, while biting her bottom lips. "Ok, take a look inside, but … Very quickly."_

_Katerina smiled, while taking a sitting position at her husband desk, before opening the file and taking her first look at the forms inside._

" _Not to hurry you up, sister, but I really don't want to be cut snooping around, by your husband." Carolina reaffirmed._

" _No, of course not, you have enough to handle with your own husband." Katerina replied, while glimpsing at her sister._

" _Do you see something?" Maria asked, nervously, while raising her right hand in front of her mouth._

" _It says that you've been amnesic since a good ten years? Is it right?" Katerina demanded, while raising her sight in the one of the governess._

" _Yes… I … It's when I've started working in this manor for Mister Mikaelson and his brother." Maria nodded, in approval. "They took me under their wings."_

" _Ok, other than that, it says that no sign of recovering your "memory" was noticed during this period of ten years." Katerina informed, while scattering the pages in front of her sight. "You saw a doctor named Vinxking? It's him who filled those papers? Am I still right?"_

" _Yes" Maria nodded more. "He came once a year to see if my condition has changed, but unfortunately, I never regain any of my memories over the years. But, all of this I already know, Mrs. Katerina, please, I beg you… This makes me so uncomfortable." She pledged her request._

" _Katerina! You wanted to help Maria, I get it. Now let this go! We need to leave!" Carolina replied, while taking a look into the corridor, to assure that no one was coming._

" _Could you give me a second, Carolina? There's another page that I did not take a look at it yet." Katerina informed, before lowering her sight on a carbon pink form. "Wait! I think I find something!" She exclaimed, before losing her smile and cheeks color, all at once, while sitting motionless and speechless in front of the said form._

" _Ok now, you're freaking me out." Carolina said, nervously. "Stop it, Katerina!"_

" _Mrs. Katerina, if for whatever reason, what you have found is so disturbing, please I would grandly prefer to stay in the dark." Maria begged her to reconsider, while gesturing with her hands._

" _I … I think that you would want to know this … this crucial information." Katerina stammered the words, while raising her sight in the one of Maria._

" _For God sake, say it then, Katerina!" Carolina shouted to her sister. "What is it about? You are scaring us!"_

" _It says who you are, Maria." Katerina added, while shaking her head in disbelief. "Do you want to know?"_

_Maria turned her head toward Carolina, while swallowing a lump in her throat, before nodding her head in approval at the eldest sister._

" _I presume it's not good news?" Maria replied, while feeling Carolina's left hand grabbing hers, as a comfort gesture. "I must be a terrible and well known person, if I take into consideration the way you're looking at me right now, Mrs. Katerina."_

" _No, nothing of the sort, I can assure you. But it will shake you to the deepness of your soul." Katerina replied, still in shock. "It's just that I can't … Now that I saw and know about it, there is no way that I could keep this information a secret from you any longer, Maria."_

" _Then, I'll be brave. Who am I, Mrs. Katerina?" Maria demanded, while holding her breath._

" _This paper form is stipulating that you are …" Katherine started, before pausing, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths into her lungs. "That you are,_ _ **Esther**_ _…_ _ **Esther Mikaelson**_ _…_ _ **You are**_ _ **their mother, Maria**_ _!" Katerina replied, in front of the two speechless and petrified women._


	13. The truth knows best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story, that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet Kisses from Russia…** _

_**(…)** _

_"Niklaus!" Elijah exclaimed the hybrid name, to retain him in the office._

_"What do you want now, Elijah?" Klaus asked, while holding his pace, but without turning to face his brother._

_"He has one loophole in his favor." Elijah informed him, his chest rising under his heavy breaths._

_"What is it?" Kol asked, intrigued, while jumping away from his perched sitting position on the window edge._

_"Family ties." Elijah announced, reluctantly, his sight lost in the emptiness of the room._

_"What are you saying, Elijah?" Klaus asked, while slowly turning on himself, before facing his brother._

_"He's related to you?" Stefan asked, in shocked, while pointing a finger at Elijah._

_"No, he's not related to me." Elijah affirmed, while shaking his head._

_"Elijah?" Klaus growled the warning, nervously, drops of sweat rolling on his forehead. "My patience is at its limit!"_

_"If my sources are reliable, Ludvig Petrov, whose real name is actually "Vlademar" is related to you, Niklaus." Elijah informed his brother. "He's your biological father." He added, before closing his eyes, and lowering his head._

**_ooOoo_ **

_**(…)** _

" _Do you see something?" Maria asked, nervously, while raising her right hand in front of her mouth._

" _It says that you've been amnesic since a good ten years? Is it right?" Katerina demanded, while raising her sight in the one of the governess._

" _Yes… I … It's when I've started working in this manor for Mister Mikaelson and his brother." Maria nodded, in approval. "They took me under their wings."_

" _Ok, other than that, it says that no sign of recovering your "memory" was noticed during this period of ten years." Katerina informed, while scattering the pages in front of her sight. "You saw a doctor named Vinxking? It's him who filled those papers? Am I still right?"_

" _Yes" Maria nodded more. "He came once a year to see if my condition has changed, but unfortunately, I never regain any of my memories over the years. But, all of this I already know, Mrs. Katerina, please, I beg you… This makes me so uncomfortable." She pledged her request._

" _Katerina! You wanted to help Maria, I get it. Now let this go! We need to leave!" Carolina replied, while taking a look into the corridor, to assure that no one was coming._

" _Could you give me a second, Carolina? There's another page that I did not take a look at it yet." Katerina informed, before lowering her sight on a carbon pink form. "Wait! I think I find something!" She exclaimed, before losing her smile and cheeks color, all at once, while sitting motionless and speechless in front of the said form._

" _Ok now, you're freaking me out." Carolina said, nervously. "Stop it, Katerina!"_

" _Mrs. Katerina, if for whatever reason, what you have found is so disturbing, please I would grandly prefer to stay in the dark." Maria begged her to reconsider, while gesturing with her hands._

" _I … I think that you would want to know this … this crucial information." Katerina stammered the words, while raising her sight in the one of Maria._

" _For God sake, say it then, Katerina!" Carolina shouted to her sister. "What is it about? You are scaring us!"_

" _It says who you are, Maria." Katerina added, while shaking her head in disbelief. "Do you want to know?"_

_Maria turned her head toward Carolina, while swallowing a lump in her throat, before nodding her head in approval at the eldest sister._

" _I presume it's not good news?" Maria replied, while feeling Carolina's left hand grabbing hers, as comfort gesture. "I must be a terrible and well known person, if I take into consideration the way you're looking at me right now, Mrs. Katerina."_

" _No, nothing of the sort, I can assure you. But it will shake you to the deepness of your soul." Katerina replied, still in shock. "It's just that I can't … Now that I saw and know about it, there is no way that I could keep this information a secret from you any longer, Maria."_

" _Then, I'll be brave. Who am I, Mrs. Katerina?" Maria demanded, while holding her breath._

" _This paper form is stipulating that you are …" Katherine started, before pausing, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths into her lungs. "That you are, Esther … Esther Mikaelson … You are their mother, Maria!" Katerina replied, in front of the two speechless and petrified women._

* * *

" _Are you sure, Katerina? Does it seem accurate to you?" Carolina asked, with her chest rising under her fast breathing._

" _What … What do you want me to say, Carolina? I… I don't know if I'm sure or if it's accurate … I… I just know that it's clearly written on this paper." Katerina stammered the words, while raising the pink form in her right hand. "Why would my husband keep a file about Maria being his mother if it was not true?"_

" _Oh dear God, what will I do now?" Maria let the whisper out of her mouth, while tottering toward one of the armchairs placed in front of her employer's desk, before taking her sitting position with a speechless expression plastered on her face and a hand raised over her chest._

_Carolina followed the maid on her heels, before dropping herself on the armchair placed by Maria's side._

" _That is quite your style to disrupt people's life this way, Katerina." Carolina let out a sigh, before burying her head in her hands._

" _How am I the one responsible for this mess?" Katerina exclaimed, in shock._

" _Well, probably not for creating it, but certainly for putting your big nose in the middle of where it doesn't belong!" Carolina lashed out at her sister._

" _заткнись!" Katerina swore to her sister in Russian, with a pointed finger._

" _Shut up yourself!" Carolina replied, while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _Ladies!" Maria exclaimed, in a louder tone of voice, to make them hold their fires. "If you could please hold your arguments, I believe I have enough on my hands as it is!"_

" _I'm sorry…Maria." Katerina replied, while lowering her head, shamelessly._

" _Can I see?" Maria asked, while raising her right hand over her mouth, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath into her lungs. "I mean, can I see the paper?"_

_The young woman strengthened her right arm to hand the carbon pink form to the maid. Maria grabbed the paper from Katerina's hand, before sliding her sight on the information indicated by hand writing on the form._

" _Oh dear Lord, it is true, isn't it?! On this form it is written that I'm:_ _ **Esther Marie Mikaelson**_ _… At least my present name is somehow a part of my real identity." She sighed with relief, a timid smile blessing her lips. "I'm a mother … I mean that I'm actually "their" mother!" She exclaimed, in shock, while shaking her head in disbelief._

" _I don't know what to say to help you digest this "information", Maria?" Carolina replied, while nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _I'm not only their mother … I'm also … Oh dear … Mister Kol and Miss Rebekah!" Esther suddenly realized, while raising, alternatively, her sight in the ones of both sisters._

" _Like the two eldest were not enough on your shoulders already!" Katerina let her private thoughts out of her mind._

" _Katerina!" Carolina exclaimed, in shock of hearing her sister say._

" _What? It's true … Your husband is certainly no "angel of mercy", sister!" Katerina replied, slyly._

_Carolina rolled her eyes in annoyance, while sighing loudly._

" _There were more of them!" Maria exclaimed in surprise, while raising her sight in the one of the eldest._

" _Yes" Katerina nodded her head, with flushed cheeks, and while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat. "You had other children who … I'm sorry, I mean they are dead now."_

" _Oh dear God, how many children did I gave birth to … An army?" Maria added, in shock._

" _Well… A small team of soccer, I presume?" Katerina responded, scoffer, in a weak attempt to relax the atmosphere._

" _Oh seriously, Katerina, could you be more considerate, for God sake?!" Carolina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _I'm not you, Carolina! I am not blind to the truth!" Katerina replied, tit for tat, to her sister. "I see things in life as they are, I don't build fantasy romantic notions in my head!"_

" _Wait a second!" Maria interrupted the incessant squabble between the two sisters, while rising on her two legs. "Mister Elijah and Mister Klaus are half-brothers, I knew that part for years now … So, this can only mean … Well; it can only mean that …" She stammered the words, repeatedly. "It means that if I had other children that were a true blood line to the eldest… Oh dear God…" She realized, while losing her balance, before grabbing the edge of a near table to keep her equilibrium. "I had an affair with another man than my husband, did I?!" She announced, incredulous, to both sisters._

* * *

" _If it's your way of making a bad joke, Elijah, it sucks royally!" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _I'm not, Niklaus." Elijah reassured him, while shaking his head, before taking an extra step to place himself at a near inch of his sibling, his sight now locked in the hybrid. "_ _ **Ludvig Petrov**_ _could actually be, in real facts, your father."_

" _It … It simply can't be true!" Klaus shook his head, in disbelief. "And even if it's true, I simply want nothing to do with that man!"_

" _I'm sorry." Elijah presented his apologies, humbly, while nodding his head._

" _How real are those facts anyway?" Kol asked, while reaching his brothers' positions. "This Petrov could easily place an easy trap to oblige Klaus to side with him?"_

" _For once, I have to agree with Kol." Stefan Salvatore added, before rising on his legs from his sitting position._

" _Please, don't make this "I agree with you" a habit, Salvatore." Kol replied to the vampire, while rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "It's really annoying!"_

" _I don't intend to make it a habit, Junior." Salvatore replied to the Original with a twisted smile. "This "_ _ **Petrov"**_ _character, Elijah, could have dig into Klaus's past, come up with a bit of old history and build this persona to trick the other hybrid into believing that he is his biological father."_

" _I don't say the contrary; it could have easily been that build-up scenario." Elijah nodded in approval. "But in this present case, all my background check on him seems to lead us toward believing that this "man" is in fact Klaus's biological father."_

_Klaus stood motionless in the middle of the interaction, his sight lost in the emptiness of the office._

" _Klaus?" Elijah called his half-brother._

" _Where is that "Petrov" now?" Klaus managed to let out the words._

" _He's moving around in Eastern Europe, country to country, but his home base is in Russia." Elijah responded._

" _Wait a second? Both of your wives…. Don't you find it a huge coincidence that they are also Russian and that his family name is so true to life to the one of your spouses?" Kol asked, with raised eyebrows._

_Elijah closed his eyes while firmly shaking his head._

" _I've checked already. We've contacted the Russian matrimonial agency, and not the other way around." Elijah started explaining. "Nonetheless, they could have been both recruited by Petrov to infiltrate our live, but they weren't … The problem as of now, is that they must be aware of their presence in London, and they could easily become an easy target for leverage as bargaining chips."_

" _If he touches one single hair on Carolina's head, I'll make it my mission on life to make him pay!" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

_Elijah raised his right opened hand in front of Klaus's chest, while signing him to calm himself down._

" _What about Rebekah? She's going to have our heads served on a silver platter if she's not informed of this little "vampires apocalypse" that we seem to have on our hands, Elijah?" Kol tilted his head, while crossing his arms over his chest and staring at his eldest brother._

" _And we'll keep her in the dark for as long as we can." Elijah sighed loudly. "If she's remotely informed of this "problem", she'll find a way to wreck our plan in a record time. You know our sister, don't you, Kol?"_

" _Yes! I can't even disagree with you on this." Kol replied, while shrugging._

" _I agree also, your sister is known for her legendary tantrum." Stefan nodded. "We seem to have a psychopath on our hands; we don't need an additional crisis with a "tornado blonde" in top of everything." He added. "No disrespect to your biological father, Klaus."_

" _None taking, Salvatore." The hybrid responded, while dragging his feet toward the desk, before sitting on its front edge._

" _And that is why you'll be the one in charge to keep an eye on our beloved sister." Elijah announced, all smile, to Stefan._

" _What?" Stefan exclaimed, in shock. "It's a categorical "no"… And did I mention: no!" He added, while waving a forbidden finger in front of Elijah's nose, under the laughter of Kol. "Why don't you put Kol as her "watch dog"?"_

" _Because she'll smell the plot from miles away, Rebekah is a Mikaelson after all; and she'll sense something is wrong?" Elijah raised his voice._

" _He has a valid point! We are like cat and dog, my sister and I, but she can always smell when I'm hiding something from her." Kol nodded his head, in approval._

" _And how am I supposed to explain to your sister why I am suddenly following her around, for God sake?" Stefan busted._

" _You were some sort of an item in the past, find a way to rekindle the romance." Elijah shrugged in indifference, while waving his left hand._

" _Like she will believe in a million years, in this rekindled romance of mine?" Stefan shook his head in disbelief._

" _Oh come on, Salvatore, you used to be such a charming Casanova, back in the days, in Chicago?" Klaus mocked, while crossing his arms in front of his chest._

" _You do realize what I'm about to do for you, Mikaelson?" Stefan replied, while pointing an accusatory finger at his friend._

" _Stefan, our sister will be the second target on this Ludvig list of weaknesses, the third are Katerina and Carolina. That is why I'll keep an eye on my wife, and Kol … You'll be assigned to enroll at the art school, to keep an eye on Carolina." Elijah ordered._

" _Yippy! I've always wanted to study the art of painting a nude model." Kol replied, scoffer, while twisting the corners of his lips into a smile._

" _This will be under my dead body, Elijah!" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, before rising on his legs. "Carolina is "mine"! Therefore, I'll keep an eye on "my" wife!"_

" _She becomes "yours' when it's fitting your agenda, isn't it, Niklaus?" Elijah replied, mostly annoyed, to his half-brother._

" _Don't go there!" Klaus replied, while closing his fists in anger, before narrowing his sight in Elijah's._

" _You'll keep an eye on "your" wife after her daily classes, but it would be too suspicious if you would follow her around all the times." Elijah tried to reason with him._

" _Elijah has a good point, Klaus." Stefan added, while nodding his head. "Imagine explaining the upcoming "vampire apocalypse" to your human wife, it seems to be a Hercules challenge, considering the fact that she doesn't even know that you are one yourself."_

_Klaus lowered his head, while passing a quick hand through his tangled hair._

" _Furthermore, you'll be assigned to keep an eye on what could become the first target of this man." Elijah informed._

_Stefan frowned, while crossing his arms in front of his chest._

" _The first target, but the first target… Isn't it his son?" Salvatore repeated, dumbfounded._

" _No … Klaus is Ludvig's "mean to an end" … The first target that he'll want to take from us if he ever find out that she is alive, is actually…" Elijah started, before being cut in the middle of his sentence._

" _Maria, our maid… The woman who gave him a child, who carried me in her womb, or if you prefer: Esther … Our mother!" Klaus replied, while sighing loudly._

* * *

" _What? No, no … Don't say that!" Katerina replied, while rising on her legs, before reaching Maria's standing position to comfort her. "You have no way of knowing what could have happened. Maybe … Maybe, you were separated from your husband at the time, and you met somebody else?" She tried to cheer up the maid's mood, while sliding a comforting arm around her shoulders._

" _Katerina is right, Maria, I mean you … There's no way you could know what happened in the past as of now, and imagining the worst scenario possible, will not help the situation at all." Carolina added, with a timid smile blessing her lips._

" _I had an illegitimate son, how can this be right?" Maria addressed the issue, while shaking her head, in disbelief._

" _But I thought you knew about your employers' past, and therefore the place their mother took in their life?" Katerina asked, while shrugging her shoulders to her sister._

" _Mrs. Katerina, there's a huge gap between being understanding and compassionate toward a woman that you have never met, and suddenly learning that this woman is actually yourself!" Maria replied, while pacing back and forth in the office, her arms crossed over her chest. "I shouldn't be surprised … I was always so protective of Mr. Klaus."_

" _It's your son after all." Carolina added, timidly._

" _Maria….Considering the man who was your husband and the fact that I've met him, I … I kind of understand why you did have an extra conjugal affair with Klaus's father." Katerina let the truth out of her mouth._

" _Oh my God, Katerina… Are you serious?" Carolina exclaimed, in shock._

" _What, Carolina? When you'll meet the man you'll understand how much of jerk he truly is!" Katerina replied to her sister._

" _I have to agree that Mister Mikaelson, the patriarch … I mean the man who was supposedly my husband is a dark, rude, and pretentious man." Maria nodded her head in approval. "I can hardly believe that I was married to him." She shook her head._

" _As for me, I can hardly believe that they kept all of this information under silence and never told you who you really were?" Carolina questioned, while glancing at her sister. "But why… Why would they keep this as a secret, while at the same time keeping you by their sides? It makes no sense at all?"_

" _And it has to be kept that way!" Maria warned both of the sisters. "Under silence, for the time being… You have to swear to me that you won't say a word to your respective husband … Or call them my sons if you prefer?"_

" _But Maria …" Katerina protested, vehemently._

" _No! This is "my" secret now, Mrs. Katerina, and I'll deal with "it" the way it will fit my needs." Maria responded, with a firm tone of voice._

" _Ok." Katerina nodded, while lowering her sight. "I promise."_

" _You have my words, Maria; I won't betray your trust." Carolina agreed herself._

" _And … Oh my God, and now that I think about it, I'm so ashamed, Maria!" Katerina added, with flushed cheeks, while burying her head in her right hand. "I've literally told my entire marital sex life to my mother-in-law!"_

" _Take a number!" Carolina added, before turning her own blushed face in the opposite direction, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat._

" _Well…If you put it that way…." Maria exclaimed, while strengthening her shoulders, with a smirk blessing her lips. "At least, I'll have ammunition in my bag of tricks if one day I need to "kick the asses" of both of my sons!" She responded, winking an eye at both girls, before triggering a general laughter._

" _You need to put the papers back in the files cabinet, Katerina?" Carolina ordered her sister to do, while rising on her legs._

" _You sister is right, we need to put everything back in its rightful place." Maria replied, while nodding her head. "Go my child, your sister and I, we'll be right behind you." She suggested, while pushing the youngest in her back._

" _You're sure that you'll be alright, Maria?" Carolina replied, worried._

" _Yes… We'll be fine; we still have time before my …" The maid held her peace, while closing her eyes. "I mean before Mister Mikaelson returns home." Maria added, while closing the door behind Carolina's back, before turning her sight toward Katerina's present position. "Now, my dear… Would you care to explain why you did it?"_

* * *

_After the departure of Kol and Stefan, Klaus directed his walking steps toward the office bar to pour another large glass of alcohol, before drinking its content in one large gulp._

" _What if we send "them" in a remote secret location, where they'll be safe?" Klaus suggested to his brother, while lowering his empty glass on the console table._

" _If "he" manages to find them, we'll never forgive ourselves, Klaus." Elijah responded, while leaning his back on his desk, with his arms crossed over his chest._

" _Then, we'll divorce them!" Klaus suggested, while reaching Elijah position. "We are leading toward the inevitable, one way or the other … We'll open a bank account for them in Sweden, we'll change their identities once more, they'll be safe this way, Elijah?"_

" _You know what I love about you, Niklaus?" Elijah asked, while tiling his head. "You couldn't think about all of "this" before embarking me into this ludicrous idea of an arranged marriage, no, of course not!" Elijah added, while starting to pace back and forth in his office. "And now … Now, that we're obviously "close" to our respective wife, it's "now' that you want to get rid of "them", how convenient, really?"_

" _I …" Klaus sighed loudly, before closing his eyes. "I've hurt her deeply, Elijah, I don't want Carolina to suffer once more, because of me."_

" _Then admit that you have fallen in love with your wife and have the balls to make amends. Cherish her, love her, and protect her … Like her husband should do, for God sake, Niklaus!" Elijah busted into the face of his sibling. "Maybe then, she'll accept who you truly are?"_

_Klaus stood motionless and speechless in front of his brother, while biting his bottom lip in nervousness._

" _Love is weakness for our kind, Elijah." Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "But, I can see that you have already embraced your own fatality?"_

" _I know it is weakness, believe me I know!" Elijah replied, while nodding. "But, it's also like "air" you'll die if you don't have it." He added, while lowering his head. "Until we'll learn more about "your" biological father, we need to keep them by our sides."_

" _I don't know … How … I mean … I don't know how to be with her?" Klaus let out his vulnerability._

" _Court her!" Elijah shrugged his shoulders._

" _Court my own wife? As in: Taking her on dates?" Klaus opened his eyes widely._

" _Yes! Buy her flowers, chocolates … Take her into the best London restaurants, take interest in her art courses… "Je ne sais" used your imagination!" Elijah suggested, with a touch of French. "You'll be sure to keep her safe, by your side."_

_Klaus nodded, before directing his walk toward the entrance door of his brother's office._

" _Klaus?" He heard Elijah calling his name, before turning his sight, once more, toward his eldest sibling._

" _This "Ludvig Petrov"… It makes no difference to me; you're still my brother… And you always will be." Elijah told him, honestly, before turning on his heels to take his sitting position back at his desk._

* * *

_Katerina swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, before sliding the file into the cabinet._

" _I don't know what you mean, Maria?" She responded, while rising from her sitting position behind her husband's desk, before slowly raising her sight in the one of her step-mother._

" _Self-sabotaging your marriage while compromising the one of your sister, by snooping around in the private affair of your husband, Mrs. Katerina?" Maria asked, softly, while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "And, at the beginning of your own love story with Mr. Mikaelson … I mean with my son, Elijah, why would you do that?"_

" _I … I did it for you." She responded, while lowering her flushed cheeks._

" _Yes, I can comprehend that part, and I would have probably done the same way, in your shoes, my child." Maria nodded, "But … You could have as easily warned me about that file, and leave me with the opportunity of finding the truth by myself, instead of putting your own marriage at risk. Why did you do it?"_

_Katerina nervously rubbed her hands together, before taking a few additional steps to reach the bay window, her back now turned in front of Maria's sight._

" _I … I thought it was your right to know the truth." She managed to whisper, while trying to hide her own._

" _You have fallen in love with your husband, didn't you, my child?" Maria asked. "And this is scarring you more than any of the previous relationships you had with men in the past, am I right?"_

_Katerina wrapped herself of her arms, while closing her eyes and sighing loudly._

" _No, of course not…Why would you think something as foolish as that?" She tried to deny Maria's romantic notions, while wiping away a single tear. "We have an agreement, a contract between us, nothing more."_

" _And because you're so convinced that the marital relationship of your sister is also doomed, self-sabotaging your own relationship seems the good solution, forbidding you to get hurt and to put your heart on the line, am I right, Mrs. Katerina?" Maria asked, once more, while sliding a comforting hand on the young woman's right shoulder. "Why won't you give him a chance to love you?"_

" _Because I don't believe in that stupid sentiment called "love", Maria!" Katerina turned her head and sight toward the maid. "I … I always managed by myself. I never had to rely on a man before … This contract between us is the best arrangement that we can make … These romantic feelings could only disrupt everything."_

" _And yet you wanted "love" for your sister, but not for yourself?" Maria asked, dumbfounded._

" _She deserved it, but she was deceived by life, and by a man, like I've been too many times before." Katerina confessed, while stepping away from her position in front of the window._

" _Oh my child… Your sister has found love; you must be blind if you did not comprehend that part yet." Maria announced, with a timid smile blessing her lips._

" _She did not, she was betrayed and abused by him … And …" Katerina objected, vehemently._

" _Mm… And she stayed six months to wait for that "despicable" man? Why? She could have easily left at any time? And believe me I am not saying this because I've just found out that he was my son." Maria added, before approaching the young Russian. "She fell in love with her husband … Not the romantic notion she had thought herself of what a man should be, but the real man who was not the perfect prince of a fairy tale, a man with terrible flaws, with a dark past, and who conducted more bad behaviors than ten fingers could hold. But, at the same time, a man who was so ashamed of himself for hurting what was so precious to him, that he left six months for her to rebuild her life, some would probably say that he was a coward, I would actually prefer to think that he sacrificed the true and deep feelings he had for your sister, while self-sabotaging his own relationship with her, does it ring a bell, My child?"_

_Katerina lowered her flushed cheeks, while shrugging her shoulders._

" _I am not comparing myself to him, and I can't forgive him." Katerina finally let the words out of her mouth._

" _Nobody ask you to forgive Mister Klaus for the time being … This decision belongs to your sister. But, in the meantime give yourself the chance to learn how to love your husband, as much he'll learn to love you. Mister Mikaelson is a good, loving man, but don't betray him just because you're scare of the passion he could bring into your life? If so, you will destroy him, and he'll shut himself up to you." Maria suggested. "And give your sister the same decency, would you? Give your sister the chance to decide for herself if her marriage is worth saving or not?" She added, before directing her walking steps toward the exit of Elijah's study room._

" _ **Esther Marie Mikaelson**_ _?" Katerina called._

_Maria whirled on herself, in surprise of this appellation._

" _You're a fantastic mother, and a true wonderful friend." The eldest sister complimented her, with a timid smile, before seeing the maid leave the office in silence._

* * *

" _Hé ho, hé ho, hé ho … Is there somebody here?!" Kol called, repeatedly, while pressing, continuously, on the little bell placed on the register/administration counter of the London art school._

" _You think I'm deaf? You want to kill me with your annoying voice, or what?" The, young metis addressed herself to the Original, with a strong American accent, while finally reaching her position behind the counter._

" _I don't know about you, but I know that I've just die and went to heaven when I saw the glimpse of your beauty!" Kol complimented the young woman, while sliding his fiery sight on her chest._

" _Hey? My eyes are up here!" She warned him, while pointing her fingers in their orbits. "And … Oh, look at the time?" She added, while taking a glimpse at her watch. "It's five o'clock, the registration office if now closed!" She announced to him, while placing the "We are close" sign on the counter, with a smirk plastered on her face._

_Bonnie Bennett knew way too well the kind of pretentious, snobby jerk that was standing in front of her sight….The son of a rich family who would take an art class to kill his boredom._

" _Oh come on, don't be a bitch!" Kol begged her, while grabbing her left wrist in a firm grip of his hand._

" _Let go of my arm, now!" She warned him, with angry sparks coming out of her eyes._

" _Beautiful and full of fire… I believe you've just stole my heart, darling!" Kol said, smirking, while freeing the young woman of his grip. "American as I can hear?"_

" _Mm … You're a real Einstein, aren't you?" Bonnie tilted her head, with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Now, I suggest that you turn your pretty little ass toward the exit, and go back to your mummy's house, we're close!" She added, firmly. "And if you want to register for the last classes available this session, tomorrow is actually the last day."_

" _Oh come on! If you've noticed my "pretty" ass, you can't be indifferent to my puppy face?" Kol asked, while pouting adorably._

_Bonnie rolled her eyes to the ceiling, with a glimpse of a smile showing on her lips._

" _What do you say?" Kol begged her. "Can you make an exception?"_

_Bonnie grabbed a pamphlet while sliding it in front of Kol's position._

" _These are the last two courses available for the spring session." She informed him._

_Kol lowered his sight on the list, before frowning and wrinkling his nose._

" _You're offering me: pottery or macramé class?" He arched an eyebrow, with a sour face. "You don't have anything in the range of… Oh, I don't know … Introduction to the nude models 101?" He asked, scoffer._

" _You want to register or not?" Bonnie asked, mostly annoyed, while sighing loudly._

" _Pottery I guess… It's offered in the day, isn't it?" Kol inquired._

" _Yes" She replied, slyly. "What is your family name?"_

" _Mikaelson…" Kol replied, while admiring the beautiful features of her pretty face._

" _As in Caroline Mikaelson … You can't be her husband?" Bonnie asked, while shaking her head, in disbelief. No way in hell, Caroline would have married this pretentious, "I look at myself in the mirror" jerk?_

" _She's actually my sister-in-law." Kol replied, smirking. "And by: "You can't be her husband", I'm sure you meant it as… Because I'm too handsome to be her husband, didn't you?" He mocked, while winking at her._

" _Whatever answer will rock your boat, "darling"!" Bonnie mocked, while holding her laughter._

" _You're one of Caroline's friends?" Kol tried to get the information, while being completely ignored._

" _Ok! For today I'll leave you with these forms to fill. You've been registered in the computer for that particular course, so you'll need to come back tomorrow, with the forms dully filled and of course the money to pay your registration fee. You'll be happy to know that you are the only man in the class." Bonnie informed him, perniciously._

" _I'm ecstatic actually, what an honor it will be for all these women!" Kol replied, while winking once more at her. "So, I guess, I'll see you tomorrow then, "American girl"?" He added, with a seductive smile. "No chance in hell that you'll tell me your sweet name?"_

" _Doubtful!" Bonnie replied, while grabbing her cross body bag behind the counter. "This was my last day as interim clerk in this office!" She added. "Matt, you'll close for me?" She yelled into the corridor behind her back._

" _Not a problem, sweetheart!" A male voice answered her. "Enjoy your night!"_

" _Don't let the door hit you in the face while leaving." She added to the young English man, while leading her walk toward the exit. "But then again …A girl can dream, can she?" She added, while mocking him openly._

" _Damn!" Kol whistled after Bonnie's departure. "What a bomb that girl … I think I'm in love!" He added, with a smile from ear to ear._

* * *

" _Maria?" Elijah called, while trying to reach the maid standing position in the middle of the kitchen corridor of his London manor. His left hand buried in one of the front pockets of his trousers, with his other placed in front of his chest._

" _Oh, It's … It's you, Mister Mikaelson?" Maria startled, while greeting her employer, before turning, abruptly, on herself, while stammering the words and catching her breath to calm her raging nerves._

" _Are you ok, my dear? You seem on edge?" Elijah asked, with an arched eyebrow._

" _Me? Of course, I'm fine …Why would you think otherwise?" She replied, while sweeping unnoticeable fluffs on her uniform, before lowering her flushed cheeks, not able to meet her son's glance._

" _You don't seem fine? You seem disturbed, and worried?" Elijah wondered, analytically, while narrowing his sight on his mother. "Did any suspicious visitors come to the manor, today?"_

" _What do you mean by "suspicious visitors", Mister Mikaelson?" Maria replied, all her senses in alert, while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You care to elaborate on that part, or do I need to transform myself into the detective Columbo?"_

" _Watching the old classics at night, as I gather, Maria?" Elijah smirked in amusement._

" _I have enjoyable hobbies, in my free time, I confess." She replied, while raising her chin._

" _Your secret is safe with me." Elijah replied, whispering, while winking at her._

" _And yours, Mister Mikaelson, can be considered the same, if you are willing to share?" She replied, while nodding her head. "Is there concerns to worry?"_

" _We suspect that an old enemy of the family will get in contact with us, very soon." Maria's eldest son replied to her. "Therefore, I'll double the effective of securities around the Manor. And I would appreciate if you could stay inside those walls for the time being. If you need to run some errands, ask George to fill these obligations."_

" _If I may ask, which old enemy of your family would come to threaten you and your love ones in your own home?" Maria inquired, while nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _You may ask, but unfortunately I can't answer that question, Maria." He replied, while shaking his head. "It's not personal, believe me, this is for safety precautions."_

" _Of course, Mister Mikaelson, I'm sorry for the intrusion into your private_ _ **family**_ _manner." She replied, slyly, while putting emphasized on the family part, before directing her walk toward the kitchen door._

" _Maria?" Elijah called her name, once more._

" _Yes, Sir, what can I do for you?" She replied, politely, while turning on herself._

" _While we are on the subject of detective work, do you have any idea who's been in my office, today?" He narrowed his sight on her, before crossing his arms in front of his chest._

_Maria blanched, while swallowing a nervous lump into her throat._

" _Is there any problem that you've noticed there, Sir?" She inquired, while keeping a calm front._

" _I could have sworn that I've locked the door when I left for the office early morning?" He tested her._

" _Indeed, it was." She replied, politely, while nodding her head. "I opened it, myself, to replace a few books that had been misplaced in the parlor room. I hope it wasn't any inconvenience to you?" She asked, while tilting her head, and crossing her shaking hands in front of her chest. "I'm sorry if I've forgotten to relock the door after my visit."_

" _Mm… Books you say? No, it's fine… It's not bother at all." Elijah shook his head, with a hand gesture. "And it's not like you would keep it a secret if you knew that someone had…Let say, snooped around my office?"_

" _Of course not, Sir, I would let you know." Maria replied, calmly, while feeling her forehead dripping with sweat._

" _Where's my wife?" He inquired the information._

" _The last I've seen Mrs. Katherine, she was in the exercise room, Mister Mikaelson, she mentioned something about training for an hour." She informed. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" She added, with a smile blessing her lips._

" _No, thank you, Maria…It will be all." He replied, while directing his walk toward the marble stairs. "I'm wishing you an enjoyable "Columbo" night!" He added, mocker._

_Maria waited for her son to disappear from her view, before lowering her back on the wall, while letting out a sigh of relief and raising a hand over her forehead to calm herself down._

* * *

_Katerina wrapped herself in a body towel, before repeating the same action with her wet hair, while placing a smaller towel, in a bun, in top of her head. One hour of exercises had lowered her stress level after the bad decision she had made to … Gosh! Maria was so right … She had tried to sabotage the only good relationship she had ever experienced with a man, in all her life._

_The brunette directed her walking steps toward the opened door and into the penumbra of the suite, while keeping the switches turned off. As only lights, the ones of the bathroom softly infiltrating the bedroom, before placing herself in front of the mirror on foot. She detached the towel from her hair, while dropping the fabric on a near chair a second later, before sliding her fingers, sensually, into the length of her lustrous curls._

" _You're so beautiful…I'm not even grasping the thought that you are truly mine." She heard "him" whisper._

_Katerina startled, before twirling on herself, a hand raised over her chest, while holding the front edge of the body towel._

" _Oh my God… You've…You've scared me to death!" She stammered through her sentence, while facing her husband._

_Elijah was sitting in one of the armchairs placed at the foot of their bed, with the perfect angle to watch her. His blazer was placed, casually, on top of the chair, with the sleeves of his man shirt rolled on his forearms, and the front buttons opened on his muscular chest. He held a glass of Brandy in his right hand, with the tip of his finger sliding, sensually, around its edge. He let his fiery glance, slowly, slide on the length of her bare legs, while raising his glass to his lips, before taking a large gulp of the amber alcohol._

" _How long have you been sitting there?" Katerina asked, while swallowing a nervous lump in her throat._

" _Long enough to witness "my" beautiful wife take a shower through the opened door." He replied, honestly, while pointing a finger toward the arch, before drinking the rest of his glass in one last gulp._

_Katerina could feel her heart pumping the blood, in raising heartbeats, inside her chest. The frail barrier of the body towel was, obviously leaving little to her husband erotic imagination._

" _You saw me … You saw me, wash myself, under the water?" She asked, once more, while lowering her flushed cheeks. This present encounter with her husband, was reminding the young woman, too vividly, that this man was way too dangerous for the sake of her heart._

" _Is it bothering you, Katerina that I've spied on my gorgeous wife, in her private, sensual time with herself?" Elijah replied, before dropping the empty glass on a side table. He slowly rose on his legs, while keeping his sight locked with hers, before taking a few walking steps to reach her standing position. "Mm… Or knowing that I've spied on you, it arouses you more?" He whispered into her right ear, slowly sliding his opened left palm on the length of her bare arm while grabbing the base of her neck with his right hand, before slowly grabbing a hand full of her damped hair to pull her head back, their dark eyes now lost in each other._

_Katerina felt her breath quickened under her husband sensual assault. She tried to speak, under her trembling lips, while not being able to let out a single sound, left under Elijah's powerful spell._

" _I was not able to detach my sight from you …" He murmured, while softly brushing his lips on hers, without fully kissing her. He was obviously mastering the art of teasing his prey, while presenting the forbidding fruit in front of her sight. "What did you do to me, woman? I have the incontrollable desire to make you mine every second of the day." He added, while abruptly turning her body around, to make Katerina face the mirror, with his hands firmly placed on her hips, his head buried in the left crucible of her shoulders._

" _Oh Elijah…." She whispered, out of breath, a raging fire taking her entire body in hostage of her desire for this powerful man … The same man, that she was, now, calling her husband._

" _God you were so beautiful in the shower, while slowly…Erotically… Caressing your breasts with your hands … I thought I would die of desire for you, Katerina." He murmured, while leaving a trail of kisses on her neck._

_His hands rose higher, underneath the tucked corner of the body towel, before letting it drop on the floor, while cupping her beautiful breasts with both hands._

" _Why did you not join me?" She asked, while letting out a cry when she felt his right hand slide between her thighs, much higher on her burning and humid core._

" _Why?" He replied, while raising his head and sight in the mirror to meet her burning gaze, before detaching himself from his wife and walking toward the other side of the room._

_Katerina felt a cold shiver hitting her spin, with an unsettling feeling of fear. She leaned forward while grabbing the towel on the wooden floor, before wrapping her body with the comforting piece of fabric._

_Elijah directed his walking steps toward a console table, while grabbing a set of files in his hands, before retracing his steps in front of his wife._

" _Why? Simple… I can't make love to a woman who betrayed my trust, while going behind my back to get her hands on these files!" He busted at her, while throwing a set of files on the bed._

_Katerina blenched under the accusation, while standing motionless and speechless in front of her husband, with her arms wrapped around her shivering body._

" _I …" She tried to explain, without a word coming out of her mouth._

" _Don't even try, Katerina!" He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while pointing an accusatory finger at her. "Why? Why?" He yelled at her, repeatedly, while pacing back and forth in front of the bed. "If you wanted to get your hands on your file and your sister's file, all you had to do is to ask me, for God sake! You knew those files existed … You had no valid reasons to take such extreme measure as forcing the lock of my file cabinet!"_

_**Ok, calm down, Katerina … Calm down … He thinks that you saw "your" files, and not the medical file of Maria… It's not that bad, it's not that bad … Yes; it's very bad, because he is mad and fuming… And he has tears filing his eyes….** _ _She thought to herself, while feeling her own, rolling fluently on her cheeks._

" _I …" She tried to articulate, once more._

" _Damn you, woman … Why?" He added, while directing his steps toward the bedroom door, before slamming the panel on its arch._

" _Oh God, no … What have I done?" She whispered to herself, while raising her right hand over her mouth._

* * *

_Elijah stared at the cracking fire, his sight lost in the intense redness of the flames, while sitting on the leather sofa in front of the fireplace, placed in the parlor room, with a bottle of scotch in his right hand._

" _I'm sorry…" He heard the shallow whisper coming from the entrance of the room, while keeping his sight lost in the flames. "I betrayed your trust, and it is tearing me apart to see you so hurt…I'm not used to experiences those feelings for a man."_

_Katerina dragged her bare feet toward his sitting position, now dressed with a purple silk dressing gown. She lowered her teary sight on Elijah's motionless position, before taking a sitting position by his side, her legs tucked underneath her thighs._

" _I'm so, so, sorry … Please Elijah, forgive me?" She begged him, while lowering her head on his left shoulder, with both of her hands firmly grabbing his arm._

_Elijah slowly turned his head toward his wife, before lowering his sight on her tearful face. She was curled like a scare child by his side._

" _Why did you do it Katerina? Did I give you any valid reasons to doubt me?" He asked softly, while pushing a strand of her hair behind her left ear._

" _No, you … You are so gentle with me." She shook her head, while sniffing and sweeping the tears on her face. "I think I was scare of you rejecting me, sooner than later, therefore I've acting like a selfish person to help you speed up the process."_

" _Rejecting you? I'm crazy about you woman! Don't cry… I can't bear the thought to see you cry." Elijah murmured, while dropping the bottle on the floor, before sliding one arm under her thighs, and the other around her waist. He gently raised her in his arms, before sitting Katerina on his lap, with her shivering upper body resting on his chest, and her head tucked on his left shoulder, his right hand softly caressing her hair. "If you would have asked me, I would have shown those files to you, Katerina … I've told you many times that I don't want for you to think that this marriage is still a contract between us." He added. "I don't want for you to go behind my back and lure Maria into helping you into your crazy plan … I'm a proud man, Katerina, for me it's the highest sign of disrespect. And I don't take disrespect very well."_

_Katerina raised her teary sight in her husband's, her right hand resting on his chest._

" _I'm sorry … I don't know what came to me … I'm scare, Elijah." She confessed, honestly. "What is happening between us, that was not in the plan ….I mean, I'm… I'm not used to give my trust to a man … I'm not used to feel secure in a man's arms. I've been hurt too many times before, and this contract was finally setting boundaries into my life…No strings attach."_

_Elijah grabbed Katerina's chin in his right hand, before drowning his sight in hers._

" _Who cares about the contract? There's no more signed papers between us, beautiful. If I could, I would gladly rip those forms in pieces, but because of the immigration I can't do it. As of now, there's just a man and a woman who feel extremely happy to be in each other presence, can we settle this subject for good now? Can you give us a chance?" Elijah asked her. "I know you're scare, and I know that you've been hurt, Katerina. I'm everything but a fool … And, to tell you the truth, I'm scare too… Can we be scare together?" He questioned more, with a timid smile, before brushing her lips with his._

_She moaned under the soft pressure of his lips touching hers, before raising her arms around his neck, while giving the unspoken permission to intensify his kiss._

" _You're the woman that I wanted all my life; I'm not even close to let you go." He murmured, before sliding his manly lips on the left side of her neck, while cupping the soft roundness or her breasts underneath the opened panel of her night gown._

_She let out a loud cry, while closing her eyes and grabbing a hand full of his tangled dark hair._

" _You're mine!" He murmured with his lips in top of her trembling ones, before crashing his mouth back on Katerina's, while raising on his legs and carrying her toward their upstairs suite._

* * *

_Carolina turned the light switches before entering what she would secretly call "her" art shop, her bare feet touching the coldness of the floor, the long floral fabric of her bohemian dress twirling around her legs. She dropped several paint cans on the huge wooden table, while placing all the brushes in perfect alignment on the panel. She loved to come in the shop in the early hours of the evening and paint until the early hours of the night._

_She stepped away before reaching the trestle, where a white canvas was facing the artist with its blankness._

_She sighed loudly, while grabbing in her hands the paper with the next painting assignment for the week ahead:_

_**Human body – Headless – Abstract and nakedness form** _

_The "Immobile objects" assignment had already been a challenge for her; she was therefore approaching this next one with reserve and apprehension of failing it miserably. And not to help the obvious weight of fear on her frail shoulders, in addition: the recent discovery of Maria true identity as the Mikaelson's mother had put her nerves over the edge._

" _You're going to work in the art shop all evening?" Carolina heard her husband voice ask._

_She turned, abruptly, on herself, with her right foot stumbling on the length of her dress, while losing her balance and falling head first toward the parquet floor._

_Klaus rushed toward his wife standing position, before, subtly and rapidly, catching her falling body while encircling her waist with both of his strong arms._

" _I got you!" He sighed with relief, while slowly raising his right hand from the crucible of her back to the base of her neck, before softly caressing the short blonde strands of hair at its base._

_Carolina held her breath, while keeping her eyes shut, with her mouth widely opened under the surprise, before grabbing, with both hands, the fabric of her husband's Henley shirt._

" _I'm … I'm sorry, you've scared me and I've lost my balance." She managed to let the explanation out of her lips, while feeling the warmth of his body piercing through his shirt, in electrical discharges from the tips of her fingers through her arms._

" _I've told you many times before to stop walking barefooted!" Klaus scolded her._

" _Well …" She gently pushed herself away from his embrace, before turning her back at him, while strengthening her shaking right hand to grab a brush on the trestle. "You weren't here to warn me the past six months, weren't you?"_

_Klaus frowned, while biting the inside of his cheeks and closing his fists in anger … When Carolina truly wanted to hurt him; her words could have the effect of hundreds of swords piercing his heart with their truthfulness. He took a few walking steps to reach the windows before drowning his sight in the darkness of the London night._

" _I brought you something … I mean; I had to drop it on the table, when you almost fell." He mumbled, nervously, between his teeth, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat._

_Carolina glanced rapidly in Klaus's direction, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath into her lungs. Since their last encounter, and the kiss they had briefly shared, she hasn't been able to get him out of her mind … Not that usually it was easier. She turned on herself, before noticing the huge bouquet of wildflowers left on the table._

_She reached the work table, before grabbing the flowers in her hands._

" _They're my favorites! But, I … I don't understand?" She stammered the words, while lowering her head to smell their delicate perfume. "I thought you …" She tried to explained, before closing her eyes and taking an additional breath into her lungs. "I thought you wanted me out of your life?"_

_Klaus turned her head toward her, while drowning his sight in his wife's._

" _I … I thought it would make a perfect bouquet for you to paint." He added, while shrugging his head. "I mean as unanimated objects."_

" _Oh! Right …" She replied, while nodding her head, before lowering her flushed cheeks. "I thought that you … Never mind … Silly me!" She added, while grabbing the bouquet and directing her unsteady steps toward the small washbasin placed in the right corner of the work shop, before grabbing a vase on an above shelf to fill it up with tab water. She closed her eyes, lost in her thoughts, while hearing the suiting noise of the water falling into the crystal:_ _ **Stupid, stupid me!**_ _ **What did you thought, Carolina? That he would bring you flowers out of the goodness of his heart, simply to make you happy?**_

" _And…" She startled while hearing the soft whisper of his voice near her left ear, standing now at a near inch of Carolina. "I also thought the flowers would make you happy?" He added, while slowly approaching the heat of his body nearer to hers; sliding his opened palms on the lengths of her arms, lower in a soft caress on the tender parts of her wrists, before closing the cold water facet. "They remind me of you…" Klaus added, the softness of his full lips brushing the tip of her left earlobe._

_Carolina held her breath, while missing a few heartbeats in her chest, her back slowly leaning on his muscular chest, her head resting on his right shoulder, the eyelashes of her closed eyelids teeming under her tremors._

" _These wildflowers smell like the fresh breeze of spring, with a hint of wilderness in them. They can't be tamed under the intense wind, their strength keeping them for bending over the intense pressure, and in the same time, they are so delicate and so beautiful…They are "you"." He let his sentence die in a low whisper on the tips of his lips._

_Carolina felt the increase rhythm of her heartbeats reasoning into her ears, the intensity of this uncontrollable desire spreading like lava into her veins, under her shortness of breaths, while feeling his hands slowly sliding on each side of her hips, in a down motion, before slowly rubbing her thighs._

_The tip of his nose softly brushed the base of her short hair, while taking deep breaths of her intoxicating and personal smell, with his lips leaving a trail of fire on her cheek's skin, under a low and deep growl that came from the deepness of his throat._

_And then as rapidly as spring had set the heat on summer in her entire body, the coldness of winter left Carolina alone, panting and shivering, in front of the washbasin, while grabbing its edge to keep her balance._

_He had detached himself from the burning temptation of his wife's body, placed in his hands, and had taken a few walking steps into the art shop, with his hands buried in his front jeans pockets._

" _I'm … I'm sorry…" He stammered the words, while biting his bottom lip. "I know that you don't feel comfortable when I touch you."_

_Carolina closed her eyes, while taking a few deep breaths into her lungs._

" _There is no reason to be sorry?" She managed to respond, while controlling the tremors in her voice. "These flowers are beautiful, thank you!" She added, while grabbing the vase to bring it to the table before raising her sight in her husband. "I'm happy that you offered them to me." She added, while lowering her flushed cheeks._

" _I could offer you the world on a silver platter; you must know that, Carolina?" Klaus responded, while turning his head to take a glimpse at her._

_Carolina kept quiet while regaining her standing position in front of the trestle._

" _I don't know what the flowers means though? Do you …. Do you want for us to …" She tried to asked, before lowering her head in her hands. "Oh, it's so frustrating; I can't even articulate my thoughts in the right way in front of you."_

" _I want "you" to be happy, Carolina, I want "you" to find happiness and I have the hardest time believing that it will be in my company." He replied, honestly to his wife, while closing his eyes and sighing loudly._

" _So you don't want this "marriage" anymore?" She replied, with a shallow voice, while slowly raising her sight in his. "You want me out of your life?"_

" _I want "you", I desire "you", and I lust for "you" in ways that would make you blush and probably be scare of me…And each time I am in your company, I want to make you mine again" He let the truth out of his mouth, while sliding his fiery side on the length of her body. "But, I doubt that you will let me touch you ever again?"_

_Carolina grabbed the edge of the wooden stool placed at her side, forbidding her shivering body to fall recklessly on the parquet floor._

" _I'm just …" She tried to say, while grasping air. "I'm just afraid of being hurt again."_

_Klaus swallowed a lump in his throat, before letting a long and deep sigh out of his mouth._

" _I would kill myself before hurting you this way….Ever again." He told her, honestly._

_She discreetly nodded her head to him, while nervously rubbing her hands nervously._

" _I believe you." She finally confessed, while meeting his blurred gaze. "Maybe … Maybe we could pass some quality times together, while slowly learning to know each other?" she suggested._

_He nodded himself, while taking a few walking steps to reach her standing position in front of the trestle._

" _Are you done with the assignment of unanimated objects?" Klaus asked, while grabbing the paper of her next assignment, placed on top of the stool._

" _Oh, no please… No, give me that!" She yelled, while strengthening her arm to grab it with her right hand._

" _Why?" He smirked to his wife, while keeping the paper out of her reach. "What is the next assignment?" He wondered, in amusement, with an arched eyebrow._

" _It's nothing; just give it to me, please!" She begged, while trying to grab the paper, but without succeeding. "Klaus?!" She implored._

" _Let see:_ _ **Human body – Headless – Abstract and nakedness form."**_ _He read, before raising his sight in Carolina's. "They mean painting a "Nude model", don't they?" He asked, with a smirk twisting the corners of his lips._

" _They mean: "_ _ **Headless**_ _nude model"." She rectified, with flushed cheeks, while stilling the assignment paper from his hands, before turning her back at her husband. "I… I have the choice of taking one of the models at school, or to bring one of my choices at home." She shrugged. "I'm not sure if it would bother you or not? I know it is a beautiful form of art … But, but … I also know that we are technically married and…I felt uncomfortable to bring a nude model in here, so…So it's maybe better… I mean… if I take a model from the school?" She stammered the words, while twisting the paper in her hands._

" _I don't want you to see another man naked in this work shop." Klaus responded, in an ordering and firm tone of voice._

" _That … That's what I thought, and I won't … I'll go to the school then, and assist at one of the models' session." She replied,_

" _You won't need to do that…." Klaus replied._

" _What? Why?" Carolina replied, while turning abruptly on herself, before freezing all her movements, under a stage of intense shock, her right hand raised in front of her mouth to mute the cry that would get out of her lips otherwise._

_In front of her sight, her husband was standing as naked as the day that he was born!_

" _Because … I believe you have everything that you need at home to paint this white canvas?" He smirked, while pointing his hands toward his crotch area. "And even more if I may say myself." He added, scoffer. "Now, because it's headless, nobody will need to know that it's your husband that you've painted naked, but I won't be held responsible for the envy it will create among you classmates, do we have a deal, Love?"_


	14. Peek-a-boo!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story, that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previous on Sweet kisses from Russia …** _

_**(…)** _

" _I'm sorry … I don't know what came to me … I'm scare, Elijah." She confessed, honestly. "What is happening between us, that was not in the plan ….I mean, I'm… I'm not used to give my trust to a man … I'm not used to feel secure in a man's arms. I've been hurt too many times before, and this contract was finally setting boundaries into my life…No strings attach."_

_Elijah grabbed Katerina's chin in his right hand, before drowning his sight in hers._

" _Who cares about the contract? There's no more signed papers between us, beautiful. If I could, I would gladly rip those forms in pieces, but because of the immigration I can't do it. As of now, there's just a man and a woman who feel extremely happy to be in each other presence, can we settle this subject for good now? Can you give us a chance?" Elijah asked her. "I know you're scare, and I know that you've been hurt, Katerina. I'm everything but a fool … And, to tell you the truth, I'm scare too… Can we be scare together?" He questioned more, with a timid smile, before brushing her lips with his._

_She moaned under the soft pressure of his lips touching hers, before raising her arms around his neck, while giving the unspoken permission to intensify his kiss._

" _You're the woman that I wanted all my life; I'm not even close to let you go." He murmured, before sliding his manly lips on the left side of her neck, while cupping the soft roundness or her breasts underneath the opened panel of her night gown._

_She let out a loud cry, while closing her eyes and grabbing a hand full of his tangled dark hair._

" _You're mine!" He murmured with his lips in top of her trembling ones, before crashing his mouth back on Katerina's, while raising on his legs and carrying her toward their upstairs suite._

_ooOoo_

_**(…)** _

" _I don't want you to see another man naked in this work shop." Klaus responded, in an ordering and firm tone of voice._

" _That … That's what I thought, and I won't … I'll go to the school then, and assist at one of the models' session." She replied,_

" _You won't need to do that…." Klaus replied._

" _What? Why?" Carolina replied, while turning abruptly on herself, before freezing all her movements, under a stage of intense shock, her right hand raised in front of her mouth to mute the cry that would get out of her lips otherwise._

_In front of her sight, her husband was standing as naked as the day that he was born!_

" _Because … I believe you have everything that you need at home to paint this white canvas." He smirked, while pointing his hands toward his crotch area. "And even more if I may say myself." He added, scoffer. "Now, because it's headless, nobody will need to know that it's your husband that you've painted naked, but I won't be held responsible for the envy it will create among you classmates, do we have a deal, Love?"_

* * *

" _Oh….I …" Carolina let out those two single words, before frantically turning her back at Klaus, with her right hand still raised over her mouth, and the other on her rising beating heart._

" _I thought…I mean….That it would be the perfect solution if I was your model?" Klaus explained, while fixing the back of his wife._

_**Damn it! Damn it! Damn it, Mikaelson!** _ _He tempered into silence his private thoughts, on the growing rage directed at his present behavior, before closing his fists in anger._

_He had thought in the splurge of the moment that undressing himself in front of Carolina would show her is willingness to drop his thick walls in her presence, to slowly uncover his troubled soul. But once again, he had been insensitive to the fact that his present nudity would bring back to her a set of bad memories._

_Carolina turned slowly on herself, before taking a quick glimpse at Klaus._

" _No, I'm still naked, Love." He sighed, while shaking his head. "Nothing has unfortunately changed for you."_

" _Oh…" She exclaimed the sound, while turning her back at him, once more. "I can see that… I …"_

" _I'll dress myself… It was obviously a bad idea!" He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. Anger mostly directed against himself._

" _No!" She exclaimed, while suddenly turning on herself to face Klaus, her right hand raised in negation. "I'm … I'm fine." She nodded. "I'm ok with the idea." She added, with flushed cheeks, while keeping her sight locked with her husband's. "Thank you … I mean for suggesting it."_

" _You don't look fine." He shook his head. "And I did not suggest it; I shoved it into your throat!"_

" _I… You just….You just took me by surprise, nothing more, like you always do." She admitted, shyly, while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "And … And it's not necessarily a bad thing."_

" _I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention." He presented his sincere apologies. "I'm…. I'm a wild animal, Carolina…. I'm even dangerous to myself, most of the time." He let out this admission, while swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _Wild animal needs understanding too, I suppose." She shrugged, with a timid smile appearing on her lips, before slowly sliding her sight from his large, manly shoulders, to his muscular chest and arms, to the eyes catching V-line on his pelvic bones, and lower … Much lower … When she kept her eyes, and flushed cheeks, a bit longer than necessary, before finishing her descent on his legs._

" _You like what you see, Love?" He asked, uncontrollably, and against his best judgement._

_**Damn it, Mikaelson! Here you go again!** _ _He closed his eyes, while biting the inside of his cheeks._

" _What is there to not like?" She blushed a bit more, before grabbing a charcoal pencil with her shaking right hand. "I… I meant … "She stammered, under her mislead words, and while raising her left hand on her heated cheek. "It is more than obvious that you have the right "package" for me to paint." She sank herself a bit more._

_Klaus arched a surprised eyebrow, with a smile slowly twisting the corners of his lips. She was, obviously, appreciating the view._

" _And … That is not what I meant either." She exclaimed, under her jerky breaths, while trying to catch air into her lungs._

" _Carolina, calm down…Look at me, Love!" Klaus suggested._

_She raised her eyes slowly at him, over the easel, while hyper-ventilating under her shortness of breaths._

" _I don't want to put you in that state of awkwardness and discomfort." He shook his head. "I …I mean…" He stammered himself. "I wanted to help you in your art project, and … I obviously did it the wrong way…Fuck, me and my ideas!" He swore between his teeth._

" _Well, I can't necessarily control what I feel!" She busted, while shaking her head and hands. "You … You shake me in the deepness of my soul, you put down the walls that I have erected around me, you … You make me lose my breath more time than you could imagine and you being dressed or naked… It is not changing much… You make me blush, and you make me stammer my sentences, and my hands are always sweaty and shaking in your presence and my heart is pounding in my chest." She, frantically, exposed her feelings to her husband. "Now, can I paint you?" She asked, out of breaths, while fixating her white canvas in shame of her own admission._

_Klaus stood motionless for a few seconds, while fixating his sight on her standing position behind the easel._

" _Since when…" He managed to let the words out of his mouth. "Since when do you feel this way?" He asked, while rubbing his sweaty hands._

_She lowered her sight, before closing her eyes and taking an additional breath into her lungs._

" _Since the meeting at the agency … The meeting we had on the webcam." She confessed more, while blenching, and starting to trace the first lines on her canvas._

_A tornado of intense emotions took Klaus by surprise, left under unspoken questions that couldn't be answer in this present time and in these present conditions. He wouldn't push his wife to admit more at the moment, already she was obviously fighting her feelings over this admission of hers._

" _Ok, don't worry about it." He nodded, while swallowing a lump in his throat. "How do you want me to pose, sweetheart?" He asked, under his flushed cheeks._

_**Mikaelson! When was the last time you've ever blushed?** _ _**Almost never!** _ _He tried to control himself, while biting into his bottom lip._

" _Just bend your right leg and keep your sight in front of you, toward the windows." She suggested. "It's distracting me when you're looking right in my direction." She added, honestly._

" _Can we talk … At least?" He demanded._

" _Yes." She replied, while concentring on her drawing technic._

" _Did you acknowledge your feelings or was it unknown to you at that moment." He asked, unable to drop the subject._

_She raised her sight at her husband, while noticing that he was keeping his sight on the windows._

" _I pushed them away from my mind." She responded, honestly._

" _So, when did you acknowledge them, then?" He pushed the note a little bit further._

" _When…" She started, before closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath into her lungs. "I acknowledged them, when you left … When you left me." She whispered her answer._

_Klaus closed his eyes, while trying to control this unbearable urge to walk toward his wife to kiss her lips like they have never been kissed before. But he knew, instinctively, that if he was acting on his impulses of possessing her, it would probably scare her more than anything._

" _Thank you for telling me." He simply nodded his head._

" _You're welcome." She replied, suddenly left under a sentiment of peace and acceptance._

" _My dear Carolina, I saw that the lights in the workshop were still opened, and I thought that you would appreciate a warm cup of milk before heading to bed." Maria exclaimed, with a smile, while entering the room and holding the cup of milk in her right hand, before finally facing Klaus, and blenching under her son naked sight. "Dear Lord Jesus!" She exclaimed, in shock, with the warm liquid spreading all over the wall and concrete floor._

" _Peek-a-boo, Maria!" Klaus saluted, mocker, while waving his right hand at her._

" _Oh!" She added, while turning her back and raising one hand over her eyes. "Mister Klaus… I swear I had no idea that you … I mean that you were …" She tried to explain, while stammering the words. What was he doing exactly?_

" _That I was standing naked in my workshop while helping my wife achieved her art project?" He mocked his mother, a little bit more, while taking a quick glimpse at Caroline who had taken a sitting position on the stool, with her right hand placed over her mouth, while fixating the maid._

" _Yes, I had no idea of what you've just said!" Maria shortened her explanation, with his obvious help._

" _You couldn't have known!" Klaus replied, while walking toward a table to grab an old sheet, before enrolling the fabric around his hips. "I'm decent, you can turn around, though, I'm sure it's nothing that you haven't seen before?"_

" _What?" Both Maria and Carolina exclaimed in shock, while turning their sight toward him._

" _I meant it … That Maria must have had a few lovers in her life?" Klaus raised an eyebrow, dumbfounded. "She is a very beautiful woman, why not? What do you think I meant, Love?"_

" _Nothing…." They both replied, simultaneously._

" _Ok, then…" Klaus replied, while frowning, incredulous._

" _This conversation … It's highly inappropriate, Mister Klaus, but … You're right; I presume I've seen my share of naked men in my life." Maria replied, with flushed cheeks, while taking a quick glimpse at Carolina, before nervously rubbing her hands together. "I … I will leave this workshop before this moment get more awkward than it already is for all parties involved." She replied, before turning on her heels, and directing her walk toward the exit._

" _Maria?" Carolina called._

" _Yes, Mrs. Carolina?" She replied, before turning her sight toward the young woman._

" _Thank you for the milk it was a nice attention." She thanked Klaus's mother, with a smile spreading on her face._

" _You're welcome." Maria replied. "Enjoy your art session with your husband." She added, while winking at the young woman, before living the room. "Good night, Mister Klaus."_

" _Good night, Maria!" He replied, smiling._

_A silence suddenly filled the room, for a few seconds, before being broke by both of their laughter, in perfect synchronized echoes._

" _I think you have scared the poor woman for life." Carolina giggled through her sentence._

" _I have been known to scare women, make their hands sweaty and their heartbeats rise dangerously into their chests." He repeated her own say, while reaching Carolina's position in front of her canvas._

_Carolina lowered her flushed cheeks away from his insistent gaze._

" _It's not bad." Klaus said, honestly, while looking at her first drawing draft. "You just need to soften the contour lines of the shoulders."_

" _Ok" She nodded, smiling, and so proud of hearing his thoughts on her work. "I… I will head straight to bed now." She added. "I have an early class tomorrow…Maybe we could continue later this week?"_

" _Sure." Klaus nodded himself. "Good night, Carolina."_

_She rose on her legs, while grabbing a few personal items, before walking toward the exit of the workshop and suddenly holding her pace._

" _Maybe … Maybe you want to sleep in "our" suite with me tonight?" She proposed, with a shaking voice, while turning her back at her husband, before storming out of the room._

_Klaus stood motionless in the middle of the room, with his eyes closed. That woman shook the roots of his life like no other woman before her._

* * *

_Elijah pushed the entrance door of their bedroom suite, while carrying Katerina in his arms, before slamming the panel with a strong quick of his right foot._

" _I can walk you know?" Katerina murmured, while raising her head from its resting position on his left shoulder, before locking her sight with her husband's._

" _I know you can, but I like carrying you in my arms, Katerina." Elijah replied, while pushing the door of the bedroom, before directing his walking steps toward the bed._

" _It makes me uncomfortable, I'm probably too heavy?" She protested._

" _You're as light as a feather!" He replied, while softly kissing her forehead._

" _I doubt it; I have breasts and a huge butt!" She complained._

_Elijah leaned his head before bursting into laughter._

" _Oh believe me; Katerina, my eyes and hands have noticed your delightful charms!" He replied, before dropping her on the bed._

" _Hey!" She exclaimed. "If it's rough that you want, you should have asked for such, before hands!" She teased him, before raising herself on her knees._

" _I should ask, really?" Elijah commented her say, while smirking and frantically opening the buttons of his man shirt, before standing chest naked in front of her sight, with the fabric being dropped on the wooden floor in a matter of seconds. "The problem is that I don't ask, woman, I take!" He added, before encircling his left arm around her waist and pulling the young woman in a frontal collision with his bare and muscular chest._

_She let out a small cry of surprise out of her mouth, before slowly raising her sight in his dark eyes, while nervously biting her bottom lip._

" _You… You make… You make me nervous, Elijah." She stammered the words. "I'm not used to experience these feelings."_

" _In which way… I would never hurt you, Katerina, I hope you know that?" He promised, while sliding a strand of her hair behind her right ear._

" _No, I know you wouldn't … I'm just… I'm just so attracted to you." She confessed, while lowering her flushed cheeks. "I feel these little butterflies in my stomach."_

" _And that is a problem?" Elijah arched an eyebrow in surprise._

" _Yes, because you could, perhaps, turn this advantage against me one day." She confessed more, while feeling ashamed of her private thoughts and present admission._

" _That is not who I am, beautiful." He promised, while shaking his head, before grabbing her chin to lock his sight in hers. "Forget the past, there were no men before me, and there will be none after me as well."_

_She nodded, while trying to give her husband the benefit of the doubt, before pushing herself away from his embrace, under his speechless expression._

" _I want you…God, Elijah; I want you so much!" She murmured, while grabbing, with her shaking hands, the belt of her dressing gown, untying the knot and opening both sides, before letting the silk fabric slide on her naked body._

_Elijah kneeled in front of Katerina, while encircling her waist and resting his head on her belly, before sliding his lips, in a trail of fire, on her skin._

" _Ohhh…" She let out the sounds of pleasure, while sliding her fingers in the thickness of his hair, before feeling her legs trembling under his intense and pleasurable caresses._

" _You're trembling?" Elijah asked, concerned, while rising on his feet._

" _I'm sorry." She apologized, with tears filling her eyes._

" _Tsk, Tsk … Don't be." He replied, before blessing her lips of a sweet kiss. "Lay on the bed." He ordered her, softly._

_She did as his wish, while closing her eyes, under her trembling lashes, before hearing Elijah undress of his remaining clothes. She suddenly felt his weight on the mattress, before feeling the softness of his lips slide on her swollen and hard breasts, in a mix of licking, kissing and biting their erected nipples._

" _Oh please Elijah!" She begged him, while raising her pelvic. He hands finding her way back into his tangled hair._

" _What do you want, Katerina… Further down?" He suggested, while smirking and being in control of this sensual game._

" _Just a little bit..." She replied, while biting her bottom lip._

_He lowered his lips from her breasts to the soft skin of her belly, before descending a little bit lower … Where a trail of hair welcomed his descent._

" _Here?" He whispered sensually, while driving the young woman mad with desire._

" _Elijah!" She let out a cry, while squirming underneath him. "A little bit more…"_

" _Just there then…Katerina" He smiled, before testing the sweet taste of her arousal._

* * *

_The small creaking sound of the mattress startled Carolina, while waking her up at the same time. She had fallen asleep for a few minutes, after turning and turning, ceaselessly, in the marital bed for a good hour, in hope that he would come. She rolled on herself, before facing the piercing stare of her husband in the penumbra of their bedroom. He was lying on his right side, with his hand tucked underneath the pillow._

_Klaus had entered the bedroom, in silence, and on his tip toes, before undressing and sliding himself under the blankets and the sheet, while only wearing as clothes, a pair of black boxer._

" _I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, Carolina?" He whispered, while letting out a deep sigh. "I mean … You've suggested?"_

" _I wouldn't have invited you to sleep with me, if … If I wasn't ready to have you by my side for the entire night." She replied, in a murmur._

" _Good night then." Klaus wished her, while turning his body on a complete lying position, before closing his eyes._

" _Klaus?" She called, softly._

" _Mm…" He mumbled, half-asleep._

" _Can I … I mean … Can I touch you?" She asked, under her raising heartbeats._

_Klaus opened his eyes widely, left under the shock of her question._

" _I mean…Without you touching me back?" She added, under a shortness of breaths._

_Klaus reclosed his eyes, before nodding his head in a silent agreement addressed to his wife. What was she doing? More than a certainty, she was trying to kill him!_

_The soft touch of her fingers firstly caressed the length of his right arm, while rising from the strong palm of his hand, to his wrist, in an upward motion toward his shoulder; sliding on the hollow, before rising on his neck and chin. Carolina passed the back of her right hand on his jaw line, while feeling the tickling of his facial hair on her skin._

_Klaus suddenly, and unexpectedly, grabbed her delicate wrist before pressing his manly lips on her soft and perfumed skin, where the blood was pumping in her blue vein, and the beats of her heart were rising dangerously under his touch. Furthermore, he kissed each tip of her fingers before sliding her hand back on his chest._

_Carolina has closed her eyes, while being left under intense emotions too strong to handle, with as complement, a range of shivers that were taking her body in hostage. She felt the softness of his manly skin underneath her fingers, before slowly circling her palm on his chest, lower on his pectoral. These tender and erotic touches accompanied by the loud sounds of her heavy breaths and the moaning of her sexual arousal. She finally lowered her hand on his pelvic bones, while touching his V-line, before playing with the soft trail of hair … Just above…._

" _If I die under your touch, I'll die a happy man." Klaus whispered, in a trembling voice._

_Carolina startled at the sound of her husband's voice, before removing her hands like she had been burned by an intense fire. What was she doing?_

" _Thank you" She murmured, before rolling on herself, before lying with her back turned at his sight. "Good night!"_

" _Good night, Love." Klaus responded, with a smile blessing his lips._

_Klaus was hopeful … It was more than yesterday, and a step forward on tomorrow…._

* * *

_In the middle of the night, Elijah got down the majestic staircase of his London mansion, while whistling and being only dressed of a pair of boxer, with the biggest smile plastered on his lips. Yes, he felt free and adventurous!_

_He would probably make a stop at the kitchen first, before going down in the basement cellar to grab both a bag a blood and a bottle of wine. Yes, he also knew that this effervescence would probably be ephemeral and that sooner than later, Katerina would finally learn what he was hiding from her, but for tonight, and since many centuries, he was giving himself the right to be happy._

_He turned to the right while taking the corridor that was leading him toward the kitchen, before holding his pace at the swinging door being opened before his eyes._

_Maria stepped outside, while carrying a cup of a camomile tea in her hands. She had obviously been insomniac for the major part of the night, and she was hoping that this comforting beverage would calm her tormented mind._

" _Oh dear Lord!" She exclaimed, for the second time in row, in the time space of a few hours, before jumping at Elijah's semi-naked view, while dropping a few drops of camomile on the marble floor. "Mister Mikaelson! Sir … I had no idea?!" She stammered the words, while raising her right hand over her eyes. What in the name of God was happening in this house? Was it the night of: "You'll see both of your sons naked", tonight? She wondered in her private thoughts._

_Elijah acted promptly, while hiding himself behind a large and high plant that was placed in a decorative brass pot in the middle of the corridor._

" _I'm behind the plant, Maria; you can open your eyes, now!" He suggested, while rolling his eyes at the worst bad luck that he could have encountered. He had never wandered around in the mansion undressed before, and the night he had decided to get to the kitchen in his underwear, at three O'clock in the morning, he had to encounter not only his maid … But his amnesic mother!_

_Maria opened apart two of her fingers to take "peak-a-boo" glimpse at her son, before lowering her hand._

" _I'm deeply sorry, I came to the kitchen for a camomile tea, and I had no idea that you were … That you were … What are you doing, exactly, Sir?" She asked, dumbfounded._

" _I was walking toward the kitchen to make myself a snack." Elijah replied, while pushing a few leafs in front of his pubic area. "Can we have this conversation, let say tomorrow morning, Maria?" He replied, with flushed cheeks._

" _This is without a doubt the best offer I've received tonight, Mister Mikaelson." She replied, while passing near the plant and avoiding to look in her son's direction. "Good night!"_

" _Good night, Maria." Elijah replied, while letting out a sigh of relief, before slowly stepping away from the plant._

" _Mister Mikaelson?" She asked, without turning her head and sight toward him._

" _Yes, Maria?" He stepped back behind the plant._

" _The snack is it for you or does it include your wife?" She questioned, scoffer._

" _Good night, Maria!" He ordered, smirking._

_Maria walked away, with a smile plastered on her face, and while knowing the answer of her question._

* * *

_Elijah entered the bedroom suite, while carrying two bottles of wine, two glasses, and a platter of cheeses and fruits._

_Katerina raised her upper body in a sitting position on the bed, while keeping the sheet firmly placed over her chest._

" _I'm famished!" She exclaimed, with a timid smile, while passing a hand through her tangled hair. "What took you so long?"_

_Elijah put the bottles of wine and glasses on a dresser, and the silver platter on the bedspread._

" _I've encountered Maria." He replied, while lowering his sight away from his wife._

" _Dressed as you are now?" Katerina replied, with wide opened eyes, before raising her hand over her mouth to silence her laughter. "You must have scared the poor woman to death?!"_

" _Don't you dare laugh at me, Katerina!" He pointed a finger in her direction, as a warning. "I encountered real danger to bring you food in this suite." He added, mocker._

" _Ok! I'll hold my laugher for now." She giggled. "And thank you, I am really hungry at the moment."_

" _So am I!" He whispered, seductively, while lowering his upper body near his wife's, before grabbing her chin and capturing her lips._

" _Mm…" She moaned sounds of pleasure, while strengthening her right arm to grab a raisin, before subtly sliding the juicy fruit between Elijah's lips. "I meant: food, you pervert man!" She explained, smiling, while lowering her body to grab a piece of cheese._

" _I meant food also, beautiful … Another kind of food." He smirked, while sliding his knees on the bed, before placing himself behind her naked back, with his hands encircling her waist._

" _There's an expression in Russia: If you are not nourishing your woman how can you expect her to have sex with you?" Katerina mumbled, while devouring her food._

" _You totally made up this expression, Katerina." Elijah smirked, while lowering his lips on the hollow of her left shoulder, before sliding them on her neck, with his hands pulling the sheet down her chest._

" _I need to eat, because you're taking all my strength away." She protested, while biting full teeth into a strawberry. "You're insatiable, Elijah Mikaelson!" She added, smirking._

_Elijah pushed the sheet on her waist, before raising his hands on her breasts, while cupping their roundness, and rubbing their hard tips with his thumbs._

" _I need to nourish myself too." He complained, smirking, before sliding his hands down her hips, while rubbing the evidence of his sexual appetite for her, on Katerina's lower back._

" _Oh, Elijah …" She murmured his name, while lowering her head on his chest, before closing her eyes. "I thought you would be bored by me as of now." She confessed, while trembling under his sensual assault. "And, that you would want to get rid of me?"_

" _Shh…. Oh Katerina, Katerina … You have bewitched me, woman … I'm under your spell, I want to possess you all the time…You're all mine." He murmured, his lips nibbling on her right earlobe._

" _Take me, take me now!" She ordered her husband, her lover … Under her heavy breaths._

" _Yes, yes…" He mumbled, incoherently, lost in the powerful spell she had over him, while pushing Katerina's back forward, her hips and rear elevated for his erotic pleasure._

_Elijah liberated his hard erection from its clothes imprisonment, while slowly sliding his hardness in her narrow and humid core, before gently bending his muscular body on her back in a lying position, while pushing in and out of her wetness in powerful and profound thrusts, until hearing a cry from his wife's lips, when their sexual peak came to appease their mutual fire._

* * *

_**Early morning in Paris, France … Les Champs-Élyssées** _

_Rebekah grabbed the small knife in her right hand, before sliding its blade on the savoury butter placed on a crystal platter on the immaculate tablecloth of the Bistro Café "Chez Jacques", located on the Champs-Élyssées, in Paris._

_She hummed a popular and old French song, while spreading the yellow and salty butter on her French croissant that had just come out of the oven._

" _Mademoiselle Mikaelson? Everything is at your "satisfaction"?" The owner of the chic bistro addressed himself to the Original, with his strong French accent, before placing an additional basket of fresh chocolate croissants in front of the young woman's eyes. "I brought you a few extra "au chocolat"."_

" _Mm… C'est parfait Jacques! It's simply my guilty pleasure for the "petit-déjeuner"." She replied after biting into the fresh piece of buttered pastry._

" _I know you too well, Mademoiselle Mikaelson." Jacques replied, while winking at her. "Do you need anything else?"_

" _Non merci… It's simply divine this way!" She replied, a smile spreading from ear to ear, while swaying happily on her chair._

" _Bon appétit_ _Mademoiselle Mikaelson." He wished Rebekah, before making a reverence, and leaving her side._

" _Merci!" She replied, before grabbing the handle of her "café au lait" cup, while enjoying the warmth of the sun caressing her cheeks, comfortably sitting at the bistro terrace._

" _Isn't it the most beautiful spring day in Paris, today? But not as beautiful as you, of course." Rebekah heard this recognizable voice in her ears. She winced with disdain, while lowering her cup on the table, before seeing Stefan Salvatore take a sitting position in front of her own. "Good morning sunshine!" The vampire saluted the blonde bombshell, before strengthening his right arm to grab one croissant in the basket._

" _You touch one of my croissants and you're dead, Salvatore!" She warned him, slyly, before entering her knife in Stefan's right hand._

" _Fuck!" He exclaimed, while slowly pulling the knife out of the opened wound under his grunts._

" _Now can you give me my knife back, please … I'm famished?" She demanded, with her right opened palm presented in front of his sight._

" _There!" He growled some more, while dropping the knife in her hand._

_She brought it to her lips, before licking the trail of blood on its blade._

" _Mm … It's tasty!" She said seductively, with a pernicious smile plastered on her lips._

" _You're still as sharp as a shark in the morning as I can see?!" Stefan replied, sharply, while licking his opened wound to close the wound._

" _You know the solution, right? You could simply leave?" She suggested, while tilting her head, before biting full teeth into another croissant. "I'm surprised that you remember what kind of mood I have in the morning, Salvatore?" She added, with a raised eyebrow. "I thought your only interest in life stopped at the knowledge of products you were using on your hair?"_

" _Very funny, Rebekah, but you'll know that I remember everything about you awaking up in my arms, after a night of passion." Stefan responded, seductively, while a smile twisting the corners of his lips._

_The Originals startled at the vampire say, before lowering her flushed cheeks away from his insistent gaze._

" _That is very peculiar, Salvatore, only for the fact that you can't stand me, and the feeling is so beyond mutual?" She replied, tit for tat._

" _Good memories die hard I presume?" He added, while shrugging his shoulders._

_Rebekah buried her face in the large cup of coffee, while taking a quick glimpse at the young vampire. It was more than obvious that Stefan was playing with her feelings to lure her into trusting this fake declaration of sincerity, but why?_

" _Now that you have made your obvious walk into memory lane, could you leave me to my peaceful breakfast, please?" She asked, before lowering her cup on the table._

" _I'm actually heading back to England, I was wondering if we could travel together?" He asked the blonde, with a seductive smile plastered on his face._

" _Well, now that you put it this way…" She paused, while raising her sight at the blue sky. "Pushing you off a plane at thousands of feet in the air, could be enjoyable!" She added, with the brightest smile appearing on her face._

_**Bitch!** _ _Stefan though, while biting the inside of his cheeks. How it was even possible that he had been attributed the mission of being his watch dog during this vampire apocalypse?_

" _Well, if it gives me the chance to be by your side only for a short glimpse of a moment, I'll fall into air a happy man." Stefan replied, with an angelic smile on his face._

" _Oh, the need to throw up is suddenly unbearable!" She winced, while shaking her shoulders. "Cut the crap would you? Have the decency to tell me why you're obviously stalking me in Paris?"_

" _I'm not stalking you; Rebekah, I was in Paris for business since a couple of days." He replied, while shrugging._

" _How strange is that fact of yours?" She titled her head, smirking, and with an arched eyebrow. "My brother Kol just called me a few minutes ago, and he mentioned to me that he had bumped into you yesterday, in London?"_

_**Fuck!** _ _Salvatore mumbled the word in silence and in his mind, while closing his fists in anger, under the tablecloth. He would personally make Kol pay for this!_

" _You perfectly know that your brother and I are not the best of friends." Stefan replied, while letting a sigh of annoyance. "He's obviously lying through his teeth."_

" _It's funny, only for the fact that we are not best of friends either, Stefan." She replied, while rising on her legs._

" _Mademoiselle, Monsieur." Jacques approached the table, while saluting both of them._

" _Jacques could you be so kind to put all the remaining "croissants" into a small box, I'll take them to feed the pigeons?" She asked the French man._

" _Oui, oui … Of course, Mademoiselle, tout de suite!"_ _Jacques replied, while grabbing the baskets._

" _And if there are breadcrumbs left; give them to my friends Stefan, here." She added, perniciously, while grabbing her handbag. "Tata mon ami!" She added to the vampire, while waving her fingers, before following the owner inside the bistro._

_Great! Now he had to follow this "bitch" in a "stalker" way in the streets of Paris! Kol Mikaelson would hear an ear full of his mind, he thought, while fuming in silence._

* * *

" _You've reached "God" how may I help you?" Kol responded to his cellphone, in a pretentious tone of voice._

" _Now, I've never send my fist in the face of God, but there's always a first!" Salvatore busted into the Original's ears._

" _My friend Salvatore, this is a nice and unexpected surprise!" Kol mocked openly, while pushing the entrance door of the art school._

" _Cut the crap, Mikaelson, you know perfectly well why I am calling you?" Stefan replied, slyly._

" _Oh why is that, sweetheart, you were missing me too much?"Kol giggled._

" _Very funny, hilarious actually… You've plunged a dagger in my back while warning "her" that I was on her trail." Stefan mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _Chill Salvatore, what got your underwear in a twist? Oh wait, when you say "her", do you mean my sister?" Kol asked, while smirking._

" _I swear Mikaelson, the moment I am back in England, you better run before I get my grip on your neck!" Stefan warned him._

" _She gave you a bit of a challenge and hard time, did she?" Kol asked, while knowing perfectly the answer._

" _Fuck Kol! You purposely told her that I was in London the day before, now she knows that I am on her trail! Are you retarded or what? Never mind, don't answer that question, I know the answer." Stefan asked, while pacing back and forth on the sidewalk. "Are you trying to put your sister in danger?"_

" _You're giving so little faith to my sister ability to take care of herself, that I'm highly disturbed to hear about it…And I am sure she would also if she knew the low opinion that you obviously have of her." Kol added fuel to the fire._

" _Kol for God sake, I've already lost her, she had run through my fingers, damn it!" Stefan exploded._

_Kol broke out laughing, while leaning his head back._

" _You go sister!" He exclaimed, while scattering the school corridors._

" _I don't find this particularly funny!" Stefan added, while taking a deep breath into his lungs._

" _Listen Salvatore; don't tell me that you thought for a second that I would make your life easier, by helping you with my sister?" Kol asked the vampire._

" _Well, considering that it's "you" who should be her watch dog, I think it's "me" who's making your life easier?" Stefan responded, tit for tat._

_Kol stopped in the middle of a corridor, before frowning at the vampire's say._

" _Damn Salvatore, for once I think you're right." He shrugged. "Don't make it a habit would you?"_

" _Listen smart ass, I need to find her! I went to her "pied-à-terre" and she had already left." Stefan informed._

" _Try the airport; she is probably trying to by-pass you by leaving early." Kol replied, before raising his head, with a sudden smile blessing his lips… His dream girl was presenting her angelic self in front of his sight._

" _Kol, Kol … For god sake?" Stefan mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, before closing his cellphone. This son of a bitch had hung up on him!_

* * *

_Kol took a rapid look of his own reflection in a plexi-glass, while moistening the tip of his fingers to brush his undisciplined hair._

_He finally rushed toward the exotic bombshell, while pushing on the side walls the few poor souls that were placed in front of his walking path._

" _Hello beautiful." He saluted, while reaching her side and lowering his head near hers, before crossing his hands behind his back._

_Bonnie turned her head, before taking a quick glimpse at the intruder._

" _Oh…" She winced, disdainfully. "It's you!" She added, while rolling her eyes._

" _The joy in your voice is filling my heart of hope, darling." Kol addressed the young metis of his most resplendent smile._

" _Then you must be experimenting hearing problems." She replied, with indifference, before pushing a hinged door toward the staircase, while slamming its panels back on his face._

" _Damn it!" Kol mumbled, angrily, before pushing the door and climbing the few stairs behind the young woman. "You know the more you'll push me away, the more I'll persist… I'm like a yoyo!" He warned her._

" _Mm…" She let out the sound, uninterested by his say, while flipping through the pages of an art book._

" _But I understand that it's your own way of flirting … Obviously, you want me to chase after you." Kol shrugged. "And who am I, as a gentleman, to not grant you of your wish?" He added, perniciously. "Plus, what a beautiful view of your behind I'm having at the present moment."_

_Bonnie sighed loudly, while holding herself immobile on one of the stairs, before turning on her heels to face the annoying, but "sexy as hell" man._

" _Listen Mister "I'm rich and handsome, and I can have all the girls that I want in a snap of a finger"! I've being polite with you essentially because…" She started enumerate on her fingers. "A) I was hired to do an administrative job in this school, and b) you're related to Caroline, whom I've learned to know better recently and whom I respect also. She's a sweet girl with more manners that you could ever wish to have one day." Bonnie gave him a piece of her mind, while holding her books tightly on her chest._

" _Oh, feisty… aren't you, darling?!" Kol responded, with sparks coming out of his dark eyes. "You're giving me, more and more, of what I like in a woman." He added, while crossing his own arms in front of his chest, a smile twisting the corners of his manly lips._

" _So butt out of my life, and stop following me around, if you want to keep your manhood intact!" She concluded, while disregarding Kol's say._

" _What would be the fun in that scenario?" He asked, scoffer, while tilting his head to the right._

_A few loud bangs were suddenly heard in the stairs, while startling all the students, with a few screams heard. Kol reacted, promptly and rapidly, by pushing the young woman on the wall, placed behind her back, with his muscular body crushed on hers, to protect her life._

_Bonnie let out a small cry of surprise, while dropping her books on the stairs, before, in a reflex gesture, grabbing both side of Kol's jacket, her sight now lost in his._

" _Are you ok?" He murmured, while cupping the young woman's face with his hands, to look for injuries._

_She nodded her head in approval, a bit shaken under this unexpected turn of event. A few punks suddenly rushed by their side, into the staircase, while laughing at their prank-joke. They had lighted a few firecrackers to startle the students._

" _Ok…Thank God!" She let out a sigh of relief, while raising her right hand on her forehead. "You can let go of me now; it was just a couple of punks who played with firecrackers to scare the students."_

_Kol remained motionless for a couple of extra seconds, while scattering the stairs._

" _Plus, you're crushing my boobs with your heavy chest." She added, with flushed cheeks, her own chest rising under her heavy breaths._

" _I've never heard any complaints about that before, sweetie pie?" He smirked, while releasing his grip on Bonnie, before nervously passing a hand through his hair. "Hey stupid morons, you better run for your life before I get my hands on you!" He yelled through the staircase, before lowering his upper body to grab Bonnie's books that had fallen on the stairs._

_Ludvik Petrov threat of an upcoming vampire apocalypse, and also the fact that Klaus's biological father could have his men on their trails, had put Kol's in a vigilant state of mind._

" _Here, your books!" He handed them to Bonnie._

" _Thanks." She replied with a timid smile, before grabbing them from his hands._

" _Do you know in which classroom my sister-in-law is having her course this morning?" Kol asked, in a sudden detached tone of voice._

" _Yes, I do … It's the same as mine… C-345 … It's on the third floor." She nodded her head to him._

" _Thanks!" He replied, before climbing the remaining stairs._

" _What is wrong with that man?" Bonnie murmured to herself, while shaking her head, in disbelief, before strengthening her shoulders, and climbing the remaining stairs herself. After practically imprinting his body on hers, in a heroic gesture to "save" her life, he had left her alone and shaken by the incident? Or was it only the incident that had shaken her this way?_

* * *

_The loud voice enumerated the flights numbers and cities' destinations of several departures into the intercom of the Charles de Gaulle airport, while warning the passengers to present themselves at their respective boarding gate._

_Unfortunately for Rebekah Mikaelson, the family's jet had be retained by her brother Elijah, and she was forced to take a commercial flight, but luckily for her, she could at least enjoy the peace and quiet of the premium first class._

_She presented herself, all smile, at the boarding lounge, while presenting her ticket at hand._

" _Mademoiselle Mikaelson, welcome to the lounge. The boarding for the first class should start in about ten minutes." The hostess informed, in her Parisian accent, with a smile plastered on her face._

" _Merci!" Rebekah replied, before taking her boarding pass from the young brunette's hand. "Do I have time to go to the ladies restrooms before the take-off?" She demanded._

" _Of course, you have plenty, Mademoiselle." The young Stewart replied, politely, to the Original._

" _Fantastique!" Rebekah nodded, before heading toward the luxurious restrooms._

_At least she would arrive in England in a little bit more than one hour, in a direct flight. She had been able to lost Salvatore in the streets of Paris, while letting him rot in this new game of his to trail her every step. Rebekah wasn't sure of what exactly was going on, but she would find out at her arrival in London. For sure, her beloved brothers had something to do with it, and Stefan was certainly not rekindling old feelings for her._

_She pushed the door, while directing her walking steps toward the large vanity, where she intended to redo her makeup. She dropped her carry-on on the marble floor, before burying her hand inside to grab her toiletry bag._

_A blonde bombshell stepped by Rebekah's side, while addressing her a smile in the mirror, before passing her polished nails into her undisciplaned curls._

" _Damn it! Where's my head today? I forgot my lipstick!" The woman exclaimed, before rolling her eyes to the ceiling._

" _Oh, no worries about it, here just take mine." Rebekah replied, while handing a lipstick to the woman._

" _You're too kind, but I couldn't?" The woman replied, while shaking her head and declining, politely, Rebekah's offer._

" _Please, I insist… I must have ten other lipsticks with me. This one wasn't open." Rebekah dropped the lipstick in the woman's hand._

" _Well, you're so courteous, and helpful … You must be …" The woman thanked Rebekha, while tilting her head to the left._

" _I must be a very kind person… Well, not very oftentimes, so enjoy it." Rebekah replied, shyly, all guards down._

" _No, actually what I was going to say is … You must be one of the "Originals" vampires, aren't you?" The young woman demanded, before transforming her facial features into her vampirism appearance._

_Rebekah blenched under the unexpected surprise, while immobilizing all her movements for a fraction of a second, before intercepting the woman's hand that was reaching for her throat. She twisted the vampire's right arm, while pushing the enemy on the mirror, before making it break in hundreds of glass pieces._

" _What do you want? Who send you?" Rebekah asked, dumbfounded._

_The girl fell back on her legs, while turning her yellowish-bloody eyes toward the Original, before growling under the rage._

" _Oh my god … I can't be …It's impossible?" Rebekah mumbled, frantically, to herself, while noticing the two sets of fangs coming out of the girl's mouth. "You're a hybrid?" She questioned at the nick of time of being pushed on the opposite wall, with the girl's right forearm crushing her throat._

_Rebekah grabbed the girl's hair, while succeeding to make her head bend, but without making the enemy lose her grip on her. She finally saw the girl's body being pushed away from her, while being projected on one of the lavatory doors, before being daggered with a long piece of wood in her abdomen._

" _Come! We don't have much time!" Stefan Salvatore yelled at the Original, before grabbing her right hand in his._

" _What in the bloody hell is happening, Salvatore?" Rebekah exclaimed, in shock._

" _We don't have time to chit chat, Rebekah! We need to go!" Stefan ordered, while pulling the Original sister behind him._

" _Where are we going?" She demanded. "I'm supposed to take a plane back to London in a few minutes?"_

" _We'll take Elijah's jet, I came aboard of it." He informed, without giving more information._

" _Wait!" She asked once more, before lowering her upper body to grab her carry-on._

" _Seriously… That was so damn important to you, Rebekah?" Stefan mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

' _Hey! There's a thousand of Euros worth of beauty products in there!" She replied, outraged, while passing in front of Stefan, who rolled his eyes excessively to the ceiling._


	15. Game of chess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story, that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previous on Sweet kisses from Russia …** _

_(…)_

" _There's an expression in Russia: If you are not nourishing your woman how can you expect her to have sex with you?" Katerina mumbled, while devouring her food._

" _You totally made up this expression, Katerina." Elijah smirked, while lowering his lips on the hollow of her left shoulder, before sliding them on her neck, with his hands pulling the sheet down her chest._

" _I need to eat, because you're taking all my strength away." She protested, while biting full teeth into a strawberry. "You're insatiable, Elijah Mikaelson!" She added, smirking._

_Elijah pushed the sheet on her waist, before raising his hands on her breasts, while cupping their roundness, and rubbing their hard tips with his thumbs._

" _I need to nourish myself too." He complained, smirking, before sliding his hands down her hips, while rubbing the evidence of his sexual appetite for her, on Katerina's lower back._

" _Oh, Elijah …" She murmured his name, while lowering her head on his chest, before closing her eyes. "I thought you would be bored by me as of now." She confessed, while trembling under his sensual assault. "And, that you would want to get rid of me?"_

" _Shh…. Oh Katerina, Katerina … You have bewitched me, woman … I'm under your spell, I want to possess you all the time…You're all mine." He murmured, his lips nibbling on her right earlobe._

_**ooOoo** _

_(…)_

_Klaus suddenly, and unexpectedly, grabbed her delicate wrist before pressing his manly lips on her soft and perfumed skin, where the blood was pumping in her blue vein, and the beats of her heart were rising dangerously under his touch. Furthermore, he kissed each tip of her fingers before sliding her hand back on his chest._

_Carolina has closed her eyes, while being left under intense emotions too strong to handle, with as complement, a range of shivers that were taking her body in hostage. She felt the softness of his manly skin underneath her fingers, before slowly circling her palm on his chest, lower on his pectoral. These tender and erotic touches accompanied by the loud sounds of her heavy breaths and the moaning of her sexual arousal. She finally lowered her hand on his pelvic bones, while touching his V-line, before playing with the soft trail of hair … Just above…._

" _If I die under your touch, I'll die a happy man." Klaus whispered, in a trembling voice._

_Carolina startled at the sound of her husband's voice, before removing her hands like she had been burned by an intense fire. What was she doing?_

" _Thank you" She murmured, before rolling on herself, before lying with her back turned at his sight. "Good night!"_

" _Good night, Love." Klaus responded, with a smile blessing his lips._

_Klaus was hopeful … It was more than yesterday, and a step forward on tomorrow…._

* * *

_**Earlier the same morning…** _

_The first rays of sunshine infiltrated the curtains, while providing a glimmer of light inside the bedroom suite. The blankets and sheet had been pushed at the foot of the bed, while its two occupants had managed to grow closer in the time space of the night._

_Carolina had turned her body to the right side, with her right hand tucked underneath her pillow. Klaus's body placed in a spoon position in her back, his left arm encircling her waist, while his right arm and head were resting comfortably on her pillow, with their legs interlacing in a comfortable position._

_The young woman let out a yawn, while stretching her arms above her head, before gently rolling her body around, her head now resting on Klaus's chest, with her right arm encircling his waist._

_Klaus let out a groan of satisfaction, while bringing her sleeping body in a closer position of his own. Carolina opened her eyes, under a blurry vision at first, before raising her head to finally notice her present laying position in her husband's arms._

_He was still asleep, with his long eyelashes trembling under his sleeping state of mind, but overall his facial features seemed more relaxed. Carolina felt her heartbeats rising dangerously in her chest. She nervously swallowed a lump in her throat, while noticing the warmth of his body and the softness of his skin underneath her fingers, and all considering, pushing herself out of the bed would have disturbed what seemed to be a long awaited moment of peace for that man._

_Caroline lowered her head back on her husband's shoulder, while softly caressing the skin of his muscular chest, in a circle motion. She wasn't scared per say of him anymore, but she was still fearful of their future together. Would she ever be what he wanted? Would he ever be what she wanted? Was this marriage doomed from the start? All these questions seemed so unimportant at this moment. Especially, when he was simply standing by her side, lying by her side, or simply breathing the same air as her. With that man it was always like words were needless, like it was suddenly making more sense when all wasn't said, and all was forgotten and forgiven._

_Klaus started in his sleep, while raising his right hand in Carolina's hair, as a reflex of reassurance that she was still by his side, before opening his eyes and drowning his sight in hers._

" _What time is it?" He asked Carolina, half-asleep, and obviously not disturbed by their intimate body contact._

" _I'm… I'm not sure." She answered, under her flushed cheeks. "Early morning I presume?"_

_He turned his head toward his nightstand, while letting out a yawn and taking a glimpse at his alarm clock._

" _It's six forty-five." He informed her, while stroking his eyelids and turning his sight back toward Carolina, before slowly brushing a short strand away from her forehead._

" _Good Morning." He whispered, softly._

" _Good morning." She replied, shyly, with a smile blessing her lips. "I… I'm sorry, I must have rolled in my sleep and … We must have…."_

" _It's a bed, Carolina, we're meant to bump into each other." He replied, smiling, while raising his left hand to caress the soft skin of her cheeks. "Thank you." He murmured._

" _For… For what are you thanking me for?" She asked, under her jerky breaths and raising heartbeats._

" _For having granted me the chance to sleep by your side. I caught a full night of sleep, which I hadn't being able to do for months." He admitted, truthfully._

" _So… This was just a … I mean… You think, it was just a one night thing then … as sleeping arrangement goes?" She asked, while realizing that the prospect of not sleeping by her husband's side was creating a range of mixed feelings in her mind._

" _I'll do as you wish. It can be whatever you want "this" to be in the future." Klaus replied, before turning his sight away from her insistent gaze, while realizing that this human girl could actually read his private thoughts just by drowning her sight in his._

" _If this is helping you sleep, it can't be a bad thing, can it?" She asked, with a trembling voice, while shrugging her shoulders. "After all it's me who was opened to the idea, who proposed it to you."_

" _This is to help "you", Carolina, to make "you" comfortable; please don't make it about "me", I don't deserve that." Klaus shook his head, in disbelief of her say. "How in the name of God, are you even able to think about me? I don't matter, I don't count!"_

" _I thought "we" would work together, toward saving "our" marriage … For the both of "us"?" She responded, while suddenly pushing herself away from him, before strengthening her body in a sitting position. "How being together could not including "you", Klaus? I don't understand?"_

" _You're not in luck; sweetheart, most of the time I have trouble saving "myself", and I am probably the most selfish person on the planet." He responded, slyly. "Oh Carolina, Carolina…" He repeated her name, numerously, while cupping her face, under her speechless expression. "Do you have any idea the power you have over me?"_

_Klaus got suddenly out of the bed, while grabbing a pair of jeans that he had thrown on a chair, before dressing himself. He walked toward the window, before opening the curtains on what seemed to be the prospect of a beautiful sunny day in London. He unlocked and opened the window, before grabbing its bottom arch, lowering his head and closing his eyes in deep despair. If he had thought that the past few months away from her had been hell, this was actually worse in so many levels! She deserved so much more than "him", she deserved to find a man that would make her happy, and that she could love unconditionally, without the constant reminder of his sins. But, instead of being able to offer Carolina her freedom, he was stock in this present situation, between a rock and a hard place. He needed to keep her by his side, to assure her safety against his biological father, while keeping his vampirism a secret, and if this was not enough, he needed to keep her save of "himself" at the same time._

_Carolina got out of the bed, before placing herself behind his back, while nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _I… I don't know how to act around you anymore… From …From one minute to the other, you…You are sending me mixed signals, Klaus?" She stammered through her sentence._

" _I'm just trying to make your comfortable, to grant your wishes for the time being." He answered, evasively._

_Klaus frowned, while closing his fists in anger… Anger directed entirely toward himself, and this unbearable situation. Elijah was right! What could have possessed him to have contracted a civilian marriage with a human girl, and to have ruined the life of an innocent soul such as Carolina? He had killed hundreds of humans and vampires in his life…Most probably innocent victims of his rage, a few for his safety, but he could swear that he had never felt the remorse that he felt now… He was not deserving of this beautiful woman in his life._

" _Is it because of the "sex"?" She asked, shyly, while swallowing a lump in her throat. "Is it because you need it… Obviously, you do… and I am not able to give it to you?"_

" _What?" He turned around to face her, in shock. "I did not touch a woman for months, Carolina…Not since I've been with you on our wedding night." He added in shock. "As strange as this may sounds to you, I had celibacy years in my life; I am able to live like a monk if necessary… I'm not a pervert, which is ludicrous for me to say, because you have all the reasons in the world to believe the contrary!"_

" _I've never said you were, but you're not a monk either! I mean… It's kind of obvious that I'm not fulfilling my duties as a wife?" She continued. "Because, you just need to give me time… I'm just…" She tried to continue, while crossing her arms on her chest._

" _No, please don't! I don't want to hear the words "fulfilling your duties as a wife" coming out of her mouth, ever again!" He lashed out, while retracing his steps, before placing himself in front her standing position. "You don't owe me anything; Carolina, it's me who owe you more than I could ever repay."_

" _Then, what is the point of all of this? Why would you want me by your side, as your wife?" She busted to his face, in anger. "Why aren't you being honest, if you don't want me anymore, if you don't want us to try?"_

" _Are you going to address the elephant in the room, or do you want me to do it?" He asked, nervously, while pacing back and forth in front of his wife, his closed fists placed on each side of his waist._

_She lowered her sight, while closing her eyes, before taking a deep breath into her lungs._

" _I've abused you on our wedding night! And that fact will never leave your mind!" He added, while pointing fingers toward his right temple. "It will be with you every day of your life, every time you'll look at me, or get close to me, you'll be reminded of it, and you'll be scare, you'll always wonder if I could hurt you this way again?"_

" _Please, don't …" She begged him to stop, while shaking her head. "Don't have the pretention to know what I feel or think."_

" _I can feel it in my guts, each time you lay your sight on me, I feel it deep down. And I deserve all of it; I deserve all of this for being the beast that I am….That I was to you!"_

" _It hurts me to hear you say those things about yourself." She whispered, tears filling her eyes. "And then it hurts me more, because I shouldn't even give you my empathy."_

" _I hurt you enough, Carolina; don't take pity on me, please." He warned her, while sighing loudly. "I would prefer your hate than this…I deserve your hate!"_

" _I can't give it to you!" She busted to his face. "How much I did wish that I could hate you! I've tried and tried … And I was never able to reach that point …. We all make our mistakes, Klaus… I made my own share in my life." She added. "But we are not only the reflection of them; sometimes we need to make amends."_

" _Don't you tell me that it's your fault, because I won't accept it, Carolina … I'm the one to blame for this mess!" He lashed out, angry at himself._

" _No, it's not my fault; it was entirely yours, and I was disgusted by you. You violated me, Klaus….You violated us or what we could have been … I don't know anymore…Because, all of it was so messed up…We were playing with each other, and we got burned." She replied, while lowering her head. "But overall, I have my own faults; I saw this marriage as a game. I let my sister trick me into it, because she thought that she would offer me the life that I never had before. I acted childishly, cowardly… I took for granted the sanctity of marriage, because I was probably not marriage material, and you probably weren't either. I played you for a fool; I wanted to make you pay for "my" own decision to accept these conditions…. And in reverse you violated me on my weeding night." She added, while feeling tears rolling on her cheeks._

" _The only thing that I was able to offer you, Carolina, it was your "freedom" that is why I left." He confessed, honestly, while closing his eyes. "I wanted for you to be free of "me", forever."_

" _And God knows that I should have taking this opportunity to leave you for good, to erase "you" and everything else from my memory, but I couldn't…." She admitted._

" _Why?" He asked, a single tear falling from his eyelashes. "Why? You had every opportunity to start a new life?"_

" _Because, Klaus… In the middle of this nightmare, I realized that I had feelings for you, and I've tried… and tried to battle them, because I thought that I was crazy to even stay in the house of a man that had disrespected me in the vilest way. " She exclaimed, while lowering her head and admitting her deepest thoughts. "I packed my suitcases at least a hundred of times while you were gone, and I was never able to leave, because I was always reminding myself of the day you left. That day, I saw in your eyes, in the deepness of your soul that you had made a mistake, and that you were terribly sorry for it. If you would be the beast that you are telling me that you are, you wouldn't have left while offering me my freedom back, with millions of Euros placed in a Swiss bank account at my name…You would have stayed and you would have continued to abuse me, because you would have thought that you were in your right to do so, after buying yourself a foreign wife."_

" _It could have been only to clear my conscience." He lied, while shrugging and biting into his bottom lip, until a trickle of blood rolled on his chin._

" _I don't believe that for a second." She replied, before burying her head in her hands, while suddenly cracking under the pressure. "I'm tired of this … I just want to forget everything … "_

" _Carolina, Please don't cry, please, sweetheart." He begged, while passing a nervous hand through his hair, suddenly left under the turmoil and indecision of leaving the bedroom or marching toward his wife's standing position to console her._

_He finally reached Carolina's standing position, before taking the young woman in his arms, while encircling her waist with his left arm, and caressing her short curls with his right hand. She let out all the sadness contained in her heart and soul, with her head tucked in the hollow of his left shoulder, while sobbing her pain in silence._

" _Shh…." He murmured to calm her down, while holding his wife closed to his chest, in a slow rocking motion, until her tears tarnished under a deep breathing sound. "I'm so sorry, Carolina, so sorry, if only I could go back in time?"_

" _It's not true…You have it wrong…" She managed to let the words out, while sniffling._

" _What is not true, Love?" Klaus asked, while softly kissing her forehead._

" _I'm not … I'm not always thinking of that night when I look at you..." Carolina confessed, while raising her teary sight in his. "Most of the time, I just see "you"" She added, with a timid smile. "Except when you decide to be my model in the splurge of the moment, and undress in front of me, then I see "you"… But naked." She let out a nervous laughed._

_Klaus laughed himself, while nervously swallowing a lump in his throat, before slowly raising his shaking hand to sweep the tears away from her cheeks. He, then, unexpectedly, lowered his head to brush her lips of a kiss. She moaned underneath the soft pressure, while raising her hands on her husband's bare chest._

" _I don't know if … I mean, if you want me to kiss you or not, Carolina?" He questioned, while mouthing the words on top of her lips. "You need to guide me?"_

_She nodded her head, while raising herself on her tip toes to cross her arms around his neck, before nibbling on his bottom lip, in a trail of kisses._

_Klaus let out a moan of pleasure, before gently rubbing his hands from her shoulders to the crucible of her back, down on the delicious curves of her butt. He slowly and carefully returned her kiss, while tasting the salty tears on her trembling lips._

_Carolina caressed the locks at the base of the hybrid's neck, before grabbing a hand full of his curly hair. She timidly passed the tip of her tongue on the length of his bottom lip, while testing the sour taste of his blood left over the small cut._

_He groaned loudly under her sensual assaults, she had obviously no idea of the effect she was having on him, while testing his red elixir in such a virgin way, making him fantasize of how much he could teach her … If only._

_He deepened his kiss, in a gentle possession of her mouth by twirling his tongue with hers…Frantically, sensually, erotically… while not even being able to let her breathe, before lowering his hands under her bottom to raise Carolina in his arms. She let out a cry of surprise, while crossing her legs around his hips, before being carried in his arms, toward the bed._

_Klaus slowly sat at its foot, before gently lowering Carolina on his lap, his lips still devouring hers, his right hand sliding on her left shoulder to grab the back of her neck, while bringing the young woman in a closer proximity of his naked chest._

" _You have to tell me what invisible line I can't cross… You need to be my barometer, Love." He mouthed the warning on her lips, before drowning his fiery sight in hers. "Because, now… I can't help but wanting to kiss and caress you… Can you do this?"_

" _Yes" She whispered with a nod, while thinking that "this" would be ultimate test of trust, before feeling his lips slide from her mouth, to the soft curb of her jaw line._

_Klaus lowered his head and lips on Carolina's neck, while leaving a hot trail of kisses on her burning skin, from the blue pumping vein to the deepness of her neckline. He pushed the straps of her tank top on her upper arms, before revealing her perky breasts to his sight, by slowly rolling the satin fabric on her waist. He gently captured, between his teeth, one of her nipples, while stroking the erected tip with his tongue, in a mix of licking and sucking on the tender flesh in his mouth._

" _Klaus…" Caroline cried her husband's name, before closing her eyes and leaning her head back by curbing her upper body, before moving her hips suggestively on his hips, left under the awakening of her erotic arousal._

_The hybrid growled loudly, while closing his eyes and burying his head on her chest, both of his hands slowly sliding from her lower back, to underneath her night clothes and lace panties, before grabbing the soft skin of her bottom, while creating a motion on his own sensitive bulge._

" _God… You're so beautiful, Carolina!" He murmured, while trying to contain his sexual ardor._

" _Klaus … I … Can we just…" She stammered, under a shortness of breaths, while suddenly opening her eyes, left under a sudden emerged panic._

" _It's ok, it's ok…" He reassured her, while suddenly pulling his hands away from further intimate contacts, slowly lowering the young woman on a laying position on the bed, before placing himself behind her back with his left arm encircling her waist. "Just breathe, it's ok... I've stopped." He whispered, while raising her tank top on her chest, before softly kissing the top of her head._

_**He had stopped…. He had stopped …. He had stopped ….** _

_These were the only words that reasoned repeatedly in Carolina's head, with as accompanist a single tear that silently rolled on her cheek._

* * *

_Carolina and Klaus lay silently, on the bed, while keeping the same positions for a few minutes. Their minds only disturbed by the outdoor noises of a new day that was obviously starting on the right foot._

" _Are you ok?" He murmured._

" _Yes" She let the word out, with a deep breath._

" _At what hour are you having your first class today, Love?" Klaus asked his wife, while lowering his head in the hollow of her left shoulder, before softly kissing her neck._

" _At nine, I think…Why?" She responded, before turning her head to drown her sight in his._

" _It's a sunny day, which we don't have a lot in London, and … I was thinking that I could drive you to the art school?" Klaus proposed, with a timid smile blessing his lips. "…On my motorcycle?" He added._

" _Seriously?" Carolina exclaimed, before frantically jumping from her lying position, to a kneeling one on the bed. "Like I would be riding with you "on" your motorcycle?" She asked, with her eyes widely opened, like a little girl who would stare at a Christmas tree._

" _Would you like that?" Klaus asked, smirking._

_Carolina rose on her legs, before storming inside the walking-in closet._

" _Love?" Klaus called, suddenly worried, while standing beside the bed. "Did I say something wrong? Listen if you don't want to … I mean you can forget what I've asked." He stammered, while nervously passing a hand through his hair._

" _No, give me two seconds!" She yelled from the opened door, before coming back dressed at the speed of the light, with a pair of skinny jeans, an "A-line" bohemian blouse, with a large leather belt on her hips, a jeans coat, a pair of biker boots and her crossed body bag filled with her books. "Ok, I'm ready!"_

_Klaus lowered his head to hide the need to burst into laughter._

" _Why are you laughing?" She asked, while losing her smile._

" _I'm not, I'm not…It's adorable…You're adorable!" He reassured her, while reaching her position, before cupping her face and blessing her lips of a kiss. "Just give me five minutes to go dress myself, would you?"_

" _Yes, sure…I'm sorry…" She lowered her flushed cheeks. "It's just that I wanted to ride with you … I mean…"_

" _I always knew that you had married me essentially for my motorcycle, anyway, Love." He gently mocked her, while directing his walk toward the exit of the suite._

" _It's about time you realized it." She mocked, shyly, in return._

" _I won't take long." He winked at her, before leaving the suite._

* * *

_The birdsong and the glimmer of the sun entered the bedroom and woke up Katerina with a start. She opened her eyes widely, before stretching her neck to take a look at the alarm clock placed on the nightstand… It was barely eight O'clock. She turned her head toward "her" husband who was soundly asleep at her side, with the heavy weight of his right arm firmly placed around her waist._

" _Her" husband … "Hers" … This was still so unreal to grasp, especially when the said husband was none other than_ _ **Elijah Mikaelson**_ _, a wealthy, enigmatic and powerful English man, with a troubled family and an amnesic mother in the guise of his maid! Yes, this was the most dangerous man Katerina had to encounter in all her life … Dangerous on so many levels and for so many reasons … But more importantly "dangerous" for her heart!_

_She raised the back of her right hand on his left cheek, before softly caressing the line of his manly jaw, while hearing him moan sounds of pleasure under his sleeping state of mind. He had gotten under her tick skin, and that was scarring the young woman more than anything in this world. She had always promised herself to never let a man had so much power over her, and now, she was lying in their marital bed, while amorously watching her husband sleep._

_She closed her eyes, while vigorously shaking her head, to help her get a grip on her thoughts, before slowly and delicately raising his arm away from its position on her waist, before sliding herself under the flat sheet toward the foot of the bed. Her body ached and she had never felt so sore in her entire life … She had to admit to herself that Katerina Petrova had married a beast in bed!_

" _What are you doing underneath the sheet, Katerina?" Elijah asked, mostly amused, while pulling the sheet up, under her cry of surprise._

" _Oh! You've startled me!" She exclaimed in surprise, her naked butt rose in the air, under the silk fabric._

" _Not that I am complaining about the view." He stared at her rear, smirking. "But, are you planning an elaborate escape from "me", just now?" He added, mocker. "I hope I did not scare you off the marital bed?" He pushed the note._

" _No!" Katerina replied, offended, and while lowering her flushed cheeks. "I was replacing the fabric on the mattress." She lied, while unfolding the sheet._

" _Well, in this case, woman, let me help you with this unbearable chore." He responded, deviously, while sliding his body underneath the flat sheet before softly kissing her curves, and caressing her butt._

" _Elijah! No…" She exclaimed, outraged, while rolling on her back, before lying on the bed, underneath the makeshift tent. "What … What are you doing?"_

" _Well that is certainly another angle of your delightful body that I'll appreciate as much as the previous one, Katerina." He mocked, staring at her breasts, while lowering his own body on hers, before sliding his lips on the delicious curve of her neck. "Good morning, beautiful!"_

" _Good morning! You're an insatiable man, and your morning beard tickles me!" She giggled, while burying her hands in his dark hair. "The truth is that you've exhausted me, last night, Mister Mikaelson, and I needed a time off! Under your false allure you're hiding this… this… And you're an impostor!" She added, breathless._

" _I'm an impostor because under my false "allure", I'm hiding "this" what?" He raised his head from her neck, in amazement, before bursting into laugher._

" _I don't see what is so funny, Elijah!" She pouted, while slapping his left arm._

" _You care to elaborate, Katerina?" He asked, smirking, while rolling his body by her side, his head resting on his upper arm._

" _Is it hot in here or what?" Katerina complained, while turning her flushed cheeks away from the insistent gaze of her husband. The way he was looking at her, no man before him has ever looked at her with this intensity and admiration. "Underneath your three pieces suits, and your debonair English allure, you're hiding a sex beast!" She informed him. "My body ached! I'm sore everywhere … It's not normal!"_

" _A sex beast, really…. You have an interesting theory!" He replied, while hiding his need to burst into laughter. "Are you, perhaps, in need of medical attention, Katerina, I could call a doctor if you need one, maybe he has some kind of medication to prescribe against this …. Problem?"_

" _You're mocking me, and it's not funny … I can't keep up with you!" She lowered her head, in shame. "And it's not normal considering … You know, what I used to … You know!"_

" _Mm… All of this, It's highly entertaining and intriguing, Katerina." He replied, falsely serious. "But, it's also hardly probable that I would be a ….How do you call it again: a "sex beast"? Because if you remember our first webcam meeting, you called me, and I quote "An old impotent man"!" Elijah smirked, so proud of his trap._

" _I couldn't have said that!" She brazenly lied, before lowering her burning cheeks, and turning a strand of her hair around one of her fingers._

" _Oh but you did, beautiful." He confirmed, before whispering near her left ear. "What do you think of your "Old and impotent" husband now, Katerina?"_

" _Maybe … Maybe he's not that old and impotent after all." She shrugged, with a smile twisting the corners of her lips. "And maybe I'm not that sore either." She confessed, while pushing the sheet away from their heads._

_She strengthened her body in a kneeling position, before suggestively ridding Elijah's hips, her long hair falling freely on his burning skin. She curved her back, while helping her breasts brush erotically on his muscular chest, while keeping her equilibrium with her hands placed on his shoulders._

" _And I bet this "old impotent" man should have enough energy inside of him for another round." He groaned heavily, while raising himself in a sitting position, before grabbing Katerina's butt and thrusting his hard length into her narrowed core under her loud moan of pleasure._

" _Oh Elijah…" She cried, while rocking her hips in perfect synchronisation of his thrusts._

" _What have you done to me, Katerina … I'm dying each day more than the previous one, since I've met you." He whispered, before burying his head in her chest._

* * *

_Katerina, from the corners of her eyes, took a rapid glimpse at her husband who was reading the morning newspapers, while sitting beside her at the dining table, in his impeccable three pieces suit._

_She dropped her high heels slippers on the carpet, before tucking her feet underneath her thighs, and strengthening her arm to grab a scone._

" _It's not the proper way for a lady to sit on a chair, Katerina?" Elijah said, with the newspaper placed in front of his sight._

" _Who's saying that I am a lady, Elijah?" Katerina smirked. "I would think that last night had thought you that I was everything but." She added, teasingly._

_Elijah lowered his newspapers, while narrowing his sight on his wife._

" _Who's saying? It's probably you're "old and impotent" husband." He replied, while winking at her._

" _Mm…You're probably right … He's such a bored!" She rolled her eyes, while grabbing a strawberry, before slowly sucking on the little red fruit._

" _And it's certainly not the proper way to eat your food, take a fork would you?" Elijah added, smirking, while repositioning the newspaper in front of his eyes._

" _Shut up мужа! I'm enjoying my breakfast!" She murmured, scoffer, while holding her laughter._

" _Did you just ask your husband to shut up, моя жена?" Elijah questioned, while slowly lowering the newspaper below his eyes._

" _I wouldn't dare!" She opened her eyes widely, falsely outraged, while grabbing another strawberry, before biting into the little fruit._

_Elijah threw his newspaper on the dining table, before pulling Katerina's chair near his, grabbing the young woman by the waist before bringing her body over his lap, under her cry of surprise._

" _You're such a tease, woman!" He exclaimed, laughing, while sliding his mouth on the tender skin of her neck, under her giggling sounds._

" _I'm here to please, husband." She replied, before burying her hands in his tick hair._

" _Oh pardon me!" They heard the discreet coughing of Maria behind their backs._

_Katerina startled at the sound of the voice, before hurriedly jumping back on her own chair, under the obvious amusement of her husband._

" _Maria? Good…Good morning…. I … I did not hear… Hear you coming…" The young Russian stammered through her sentence, while nervously passing a hand through her hair._

" _Mrs. Katherine, pardon me for not announcing myself, but it seems you were otherwise occupied, good morning to you too, Madam." Maria greeted, with a devious smile twisting the corners of her lips. "And may I wish you a good morning, Sir?" Maria added, mocker, while grabbing a silver tea pot in her hands._

" _Good morning, my dear Maria, did you sleep well?" He asked, smiling, while grabbing his newspaper back in his hands._

" _Yes, thank you, Sir. May I offer you a cup of tea?" She asked, politely._

" _Please." He responded, while handing his cup to her._

" _Yes, I slept like a baby, if it was not for a few "disturbances" in the middle of the night." She frowned, while pouring the hot beverage in her son's cup._

_Katerina buried her head between her shoulders, while letting out a small laughter. Elijah arched an eyebrow at his wife, before gently hitting her leg with his foot, underneath the table._

" _Tea, Miss Katherine?" Maria asked, cordially._

" _Ouch!" She exclaimed, before passing her tongue at Elijah. "Yes, Maria, thank you! You have to forgive my husband; he's quite an exhibitionist when the night comes…Who would guess, really?"_

" _Dear Lord, Mrs. Katherine, if it was only the exhibition of your husband, I could have survived." Maria rolled her eyes to the ceiling._

" _Maria, you can hardly hold me responsible if you've received the visit of an "admirer" in the middle of the night." Elijah mocked, while smirking._

" _Oh this is highly inappropriate, Mister Mikaelson!" Maria lowered her flushed cheeks, outraged. "I did not receive the visit of any man last night, not that I would scream the news on the roof top of this mansion! Actually it was your brother, Mister Klaus; he was posing as a nude model for your sister Caroline, Mrs. Katherine."_

_Both Elijah and Katerina spit their tea on the table, soon followed by their loud coughing sounds._

" _What you mean by posing as a nude model?" Katerina asked, in shock._

" _What did you just say, Maria?" Elijah exclaimed, dumbfounded._

" _Oh no worries, no worries… It was actually kind of sweet." Maria commented, with a smile blessing her lips. "For what I could gather, your sister has a class assignment that requires painting a nude model, and Mister Klaus offered his services." She explained in details._

_Katerina pushed her chair, before frantically raising on her legs._

" _Sit down!" Elijah ordered his wife, while promptly grabbing her right wrist._

" _But, maybe he…And she needs…" She tried to protest._

" _No "but", just sit!" He insisted, before seeing his wife take her sitting position back at the table, under her pouting mood._

" _Oh no, Mrs. Katherine, I can assure you that there is no reason to be concern. They were actually enjoying themselves, and laughing, and your sister was actually mastering the art of painting." Maria reassured the young woman. "It is actually me who was misplaced." She added, while rolling her eyes more._

" _See, they are getting closer." Elijah repeated, softly, to his wife. "Don't make a fuss for nothing."_

_Katerina raised her worried sight in the one of her husband's, while taking a deep breath into her lungs, before nodding her head in agreement._

" _Well, Maria, on behalf of my brother and I, I present you our deepest apologies for wandering in the Manor in our birthday suits." Elijah excuse himself and Klaus, while lowering his head to retain his laughter._

" _Mister Mikaelson, I am so content that my embarrassment is brightening up your day! She replied, slyly, with her cheeks on fire, before turning on her heels, with the intention of storming out of the room._

" _Maria!" Elijah called, apologetically. "I'm sorry…Just wait…"_

" _Yes, sir, what can I do for you?" She held her pace, while sighing loudly and turning on herself, before crossing her hands over her chest._

" _Look at it this way, it could have been worst … He could have been visiting and you could have seen Kol?" Elijah brought the idea, while raising one of his eyebrows._

" _Oh dear God, what would you ever brought this up?" Maria exclaimed, before storming out of the room, under the burst of laughter of both Katerina and her husband._

" _You're bad!" Katerina accused Elijah._

" _Yes, and I love it!" He replied, smiling, before grabbing his newspaper back in his hands._

* * *

_Maria entered the parlor room, while humming a melody and directing her walking steps toward the bar, before grabbing a few dirty glasses to gather them on a silver tray._

_She suddenly froze all her movements, her hand still holding a wet cloth, while instinctively feeling an intrusive presence in the room._

_She turned on herself, before facing the man who was slowly stepping aside from the dark shadow of his standing position._

" _Are you cleaning the Manor in the dark now, my dear?" Mikael Mikaelson asked, mockingly, while placing himself in front of the maid._

" _Mister … Mister Mikaelson, I was not aware of your presence or unannounced visit?" She managed to let the polite greeting out of her mouth, while keeping her calm, before slowly raising her sight in the one of her husband._

" _I wasn't aware that I needed a formal invitation to visit my son?" He arched an eyebrow, before gulping the alcohol and stretching his right arm to drop his empty glass on the platter, while brushing the skin of her arm in an almost unperceivable caress. "It's nice to see again, Maria." He whispered near her left ear, before drowning his sight in hers._

* * *

_**Russia, Moscow – Ludvig Petrov's Estate** _

_The Russian vampire nodded discreetly at the two guards posted in front of the two gigantic wooden doors of the parlor room of this century Castle. They opened the doors to let him enter, before closing the panels behind his back._

" _Petrov!" The vampire saluted, before making a cordial reverence._

" _I hope you're bringing me news, Alexay?" Ludvig asked, while gulping a glass of vodka._

" _да, я надеюсь," The said Alexay responded, confident, and with a devious smile twisting the corners of his lips. He reached Ludvig standing position near the foyer, before handing him an envelope._

" _Don't be hopeful! Bring me "concrete". Hope if for the weak and we are not weak!" Ludvig lashed out, before grabbing the envelope. "We're playing a game of chess, Alexay, we can lose a few battles, but we'll win the war. What are these?" He asked, while raising the envelope and sight toward his cooperator._

" _These are the pictures that you've asked for." Alexay responded, while nodding his head._

" _Finally, that is what I call "concrete"!" Ludvig exclaimed, while smirking. "Beautiful girl, "_ _ **Rebekah Mikaelson"**_ _I suppose?" He said, while looking at the picture. "She has the beauty of my_ _ **Ingrid**_ _; but unfortunately for her she is also the daughter of my enemy." He noticed, sadly, while sliding his fingers on her features. "Did you locate her?"_

" _Yes, like we've expected, "She" was intercepted by one of our hybrids at the airport, in Paris." Alexay informed his boss. "Unfortunately, we lost one of our own."_

" _Of course we did, don't underestimate your enemy's strength, Alexay. As for our young hybrid, she was collateral damage, my friend, nothing less, nothing more." Petrov added, while sliding the pictures, one by one, in his hands, before narrowing his sight on a particular one. "Who's this? It can't be true, it's impossible?" Ludvig exclaimed, in shock._

" _Their maid, I believe. She is of none importance to us." Alexay stepped by his side, while lowering his sight on the picture._

" _It's not their maid; you idiot! I should have known that_ _ **Yngve**_ _would have doubled cross me!" Petrov yelled, before throwing in rage, his glass on the wall, under a loud shrill noise of broken glasses. "_

" _But, but … I … I don't understand,_ _ **Petrov**_ _, who is this woman?" Alexay asked, petrified._

" _This woman is my_ _ **Ingrid**_ _. She is alive you fool!" Ludvig exclaimed, in anger, under the shocked expression of the vampire._


	16. Game of chess - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story, that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet kisses from Russia …** _

_Maria entered the parlor room, while humming a melody and directing her walking steps toward the bar, before grabbing a few dirty glasses to gather them on a silver tray._

_She suddenly froze all her movements, her hand still holding a wet cloth, while instinctively feeling an intrusive presence in the room._

_She turned on herself, before facing the man who was slowly stepping aside from the dark shadow of his standing position._

_"Are you cleaning the Manor in the dark now, my dear?" Mikael Mikaelson asked, mockingly, while placing himself in front of the maid._

_"Mister … Mister Mikaelson, I was not aware of your presence or unannounced visit?" She managed to let the polite greeting out of her mouth, while keeping her calm, before slowly raising her sight in the one of her husband._

_"I wasn't aware that I needed a formal invitation to visit my son?" He arched an eyebrow, before gulping the alcohol and stretching his right arm to drop his empty glass on the platter, while brushing the skin of her arm in an almost unperceivable caress. "It's nice to see again, Maria." He whispered near her left ear, before drowning his sight in hers._

* * *

" _I'm sure it was a mispronunciation from your part, and you actually meant "sons" in plural, mister Mikaelson?" Maria responded, tit for tat, while raising her chin and drowning her sight in the one of the arrogant man. "I believe you have two of them in this house?"_

" _Mm…" Mikael grinned, while slowly raising his right hand to slide a loose strand of Maria's hair behind her left ear. "You're always acting so maternal toward your employers, Maria, why is that? Did you ever wonder?" He asked, perniciously, while suddenly lowering his hand._

" _It's in my personality to care about this mansion, and its occupants, Mister Mikaelson." She replied, dryly. "Consideration, empathy, and respect are integral part of the person that I am, I'm sorry if those qualities seem to be a problem for you."_

" _On the contrary, my dear, it's actually refreshing to see these said qualities in a "simple" maid." He replied, shrugging, while burying his hands in his trousers' pockets. "After all, you could simply do your cleaning and dusting tasks without adding your maternal inclination into the mix."_

" _I'm not inclined into becoming an egotistical individual; you'll have to excuse me." She replied, slyly, while nodding her head._

" _Why do I have the distinct impression that we are not talking about you anymore?" Mikael questioned, while drowning his sight in his amnesic wife._

" _I'm not quite sure what you're implying, Sir?" Maria replied, while swallowing a lump in her throat. "Now if you'll excuse-me, I'll go inform of your presence." She nodded her head in respect, while turning on her heels, before being held on her track, with a firm grip of Mikael' right hand on her left upper arm._

" _Just for your personal knowledge, my dear, though I personally believe that you are already aware of my family history." Mikael mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "Klaus is my ex-wife bastard's child; I will never consider him as one of my children. A whore who betrayed her husband deserves to have her child considered as such, would you say?"_

_Maria slowly raised her sight in the one of the patriarch, tears filling up her eyes._

" _Maria, could you leave me and my father, in a private meeting?" They both heard the loud order coming from the entrance of the room, before turning their sights, simultaneously, toward Elijah, who stood over the threshold with his arms crossed over his chest, and his sight narrowed on them._

" _Certainly, Sir, I'll leave you and your father, now." Maria replied, politely, while freeing herself from Mikael's grip._

_The maid turned on her heels, before walking toward the exit of the room, while taking a last quick glimpse at her son, who nodded his head discreetly as reassurance gesture._

" _You're very protective of your "maid" as I can see, Elijah?" Mikael mocked, while smirking, before taking a few walking steps in direction of the bar. "Can I offer you a Scotch, or is it too early in the morning for your etiquette standard, son?"_

" _It's a bit early in the day to drown your sins into alcohol, would you say, father?" Elijah replied, while closing the door behind him, before advancing into the room toward Mikael's standing position. "Or is it that you want to forget that you're entirely responsible for our mother's amnesia?" He added, dryly._

_Mikael winced under the accusation, while raising the glass to his lips, before gulping its entire content._

" _I think your mother is finding her new conditions of life pleasurable. When I put that spell on Esther to make her forget her past, and indiscretion, I actually did her a favor." He responded, with a vicious smile plastered on his lips. "A little bit of dusting, a little bit of cleaning. If it was not for her insufferable way of mothering all of you, even under her amnesia, she could actually be good at what she's doing." He shrugged, while pouring more Scotch into his glass._

" _You raise your filthy hands once more on her, and I swear I'll find a way to burry you six feet under the ground, father!" Elijah mumbled, angrily, near Mikael's right ear._

" _You always had a soft spot for her, Elijah; I wonder why to be honest? Except for the fact that she gave birth to you, she dishonored our family's name in the worst vicious way." Mikael responded, while tightening his right hand on his glass._

" _She's our mother for God sake! You viciously took her free will away from her; you've destroyed the woman that she was for your own sick revenge!" Elijah busted into his father's face. "You've erased all the memory she had of all of us. What more could you want from her?"_

" _Look at you, the mighty Elijah Mikaelson acting all moralistic on his father!" Mikael exclaimed, while gesturing with his hands, before pacing back and forth, glass at hands. "But it shouldn't surprise me; should it? You apparently followed your mother's steps; a whore is sharing your bed after all."_

" _Don't you dare mention my wife … What have you become father?" Elijah exclaimed, in disdain, while nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair. "A wacked, sick man who's only purpose in life is to make his own family miserable!"_

" _Not our family!" Mikael yelled, while reaching Elijah's standing position before drowning his sight in his biological son. "The bastard your mother imposed on us!"_

" _You've met_ _ **Ludvig**_ _, haven't you, father?" Elijah questioned, angrily, between his teeth. "And now you're enjoying a game of chess with that man, am I right?"_

" _Perhaps, who could say?" Mikael responded, a sadistic smile twisting the corners of his lips._

" _Are you out of your mind?" Elijah complained. "Do you even realize that your little war with him could annihilate all vampires? Or are you so locked up in your game of power and revenge that this thought never even cross your mind?"_

" _You over-dramatized everything, Elijah." Mikael rolled his eyes. "Give Ludvig what he wants more in this world and he'll lower his defenses, and who knows, he'll even forget that he wants to conquer the supernatural world in the first place. You could even make a profitable deal with him. And what does he want more than anything? Niklaus and your mother, lucky for us, we have both!" Mikael replied, smirking._

" _So, you want me to hand my brother and my mother to that man?" Elijah lashed out, while closing his fists in anger. "Never, father … We'll fight against him."_

" _You're a fool Elijah if you believe for one second that Niklaus will not side with his biological father at some point. Then, I hope you're ready for the lethal repercussions of your choice." Mikael replied, dryly, while directing his walking steps toward the room exit, before slamming the door behind his back._

* * *

_Maria ran into the corridor, while leading her race toward the kitchen, a hand raised over her mouth, with tears as only companion of her turmoil._

" _Maria?" Katerina called the maid's name, while pushing the swinging door, before entering the kitchen._

" _Yes, Mrs. Katerina" Maria responded, while quickly recovering her calm, before passing the back of her right hand on her teary eyelids._

" _What is it? What happened? Why are you crying?" Katerina asked those questions, while approaching the maid standing position, in front of the window. "I saw you run in the corridor, and I got worried?"_

" _What? Oh no, Mrs. Katerina, it's simply dust in my eyes, it's really nothing for you to worry about." Maria shook her head, while strengthening her shoulders and putting a fake smile on her lips. "What can I do for you, my dear?" She added, while courageously turning on herself to face the young woman, before drowning her sight in Katerina's._

" _Maria, please, I want to help you?" The young woman begged, while grabbing both of the maid's hands. "I can see that something is bothering you, you're sad and upset… Could you tell me what is it?"_

" _It's more someone." Maria replied, while taking a deep breath into her lungs. "He's … He's here." Maria whispered, while lowering her head and sight._

" _Who's here? Oh…. You mean, Mikael Mikaelson, their father… I mean your husband?" Katerina guessed, uncomfortable._

" _He knows… I could swear that he knows something about the reason of my amnesia." Maria explained, before turning on her heels to face the exterior view through the window, while raising her hand over her chest. "I believe that … He could actually be the person responsible for the loss of my memory. He was so mean toward me, like he wanted to hurt the deepness of my soul.""_

" _I think it's a given that your husband must know what happened to you, if … If your sons and daughter protected you for so many years, while creating this false identity for yourself, and by keeping you by their sides, it's kind of obvious that they wanted to protect you from someone or something." Katerina analyzed, thoroughly. "And the fact that "he" is not standing by your side, is giving him away."_

" _Oh please, don't mention this "man" as "my husband", the simple thought of it gives me nausea." Maria rolled her eyes, a hand kept over her throat. "His arrogance is enough to make me throw up!"_

" _Well, he gives me nausea too, if it's any consolation." Katerina mentioned, while sliding her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, before addressing a timid smile to the maid. "You should talk to your sons; you should try to understand what happened to you, you should ask them the reason of your amnesia?"_

" _I can't, my dear. Not now that is … I need to figure things out by myself before even thinking of admitting to them that I know my true identity." Maria replied. "You're a sweet young woman; my son Elijah is the luckiest man to have you in his life. Both of my sons are… Your sister is a real angel too." She added, while raising her right hand to caress Katerina's left cheek._

" _You should go lay down, Maria; I'll take care of the Manor for you." Katerina proposed. "You've been stressed out enough by this encounter with … With that man."_

" _It's out of the question, Mrs. Katerina, I need to … I mean, I have plenty of tasks to take care today." Maria responded, while nodding her head, while nervously passing her hands on her apron._

" _As one of the ladies of this house, I'm telling you that it's an order, Maria, and I won't take no for an answer." Katerina replied, firmly._

" _Well, my dear, if you use this bossy tone of voice, I suppose I can't refuse." Maria replied, before sweet kissing the young woman forehead. "I'll go lay down for a short moment."_

" _Just take the day off, Maria, would you?" Katerina suggested, before seeing the door close on the maid's back._

_Maria was considered a mother to Katerina, and if necessary, she would fight closed fists and nails against anyone or anything that would hurt this woman…_

* * *

_Elijah entered the kitchen, his sight rapidly attracted by the sunlight reflecting on his wife hair._

" _What are you doing here_ _ **Красивый**_ _(beautiful), while standing alone in the kitchen, in front of the window?" Elijah asked Katerina, while reaching her standing position, before sliding his hands around her waist, his head tucked in the hollow of her left shoulder, his own sight lost in the blue sky, in tandem with hers._

" _Nothing … Just thinking…" She answered him, before raising the back of her left hand to caress the roughness of his cheek. "You forgot to shave this morning, Mister Mikaelson." She mocked, gently._

" _It's my new wife' fault, she kept me in bed all morning, she's kind of insatiable that one." He replied, scoffer, while nibbling on her earlobe. "But I can't complaint, because she is pleasuring me in more ways than one."_

" _Then you can consider yourself a lucky man." She lowered her flushed cheeks, a smile spreading on her lips._

" _I know…" He whispered, before kissing the top of her head. "I'm the luckiest man alive."_

" _Your father, he ... I mean it's not my business…He was here and … Oh, forget it!" She stammered through her sentence, before closing her eyes and swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _What is it?" Elijah asked, while grabbing his wife's chin and turning her head toward him, before drowning his sight in hers._

" _He made Maria cry." She confessed. "I mean…. It's "Maria", how can someone make her cry?"_

_Elijah sighed loudly, while detaching himself and taking a few walking steps toward the kitchen island, before crossing his arms in front of his chest._

" _I know, I witnessed it. My father is a troubled and lonely man, Katerina. He lives under his own set of rules. He has a lot of rancor and resentment inside of him, mostly caused by my brother Niklaus." Elijah confessed to his wife._

" _You don't have to … I mean if you don't want to share…Or talk about it … I'll understand." She suggested._

" _You're my wife; you deserve to be a part of this family. Just be aware that it could get ugly at any time in the future." He replied, while stroking his eyelids and leaning his back on the counter. "You know… Niklaus is my half-brother, he's the result of a love affair that our mother had in the past with another man."_

" _And your father never forgot your mother for her indiscretion, I suppose?" Katerina presumed._

" _No, not lightly… He's even still resentful after all this time." Elijah replied, while passing a hand thought his hair. "And unfortunately, that makes him an arrogant man toward women in general."_

" _But isn't it also a proof that he had never stopped loving her, if he is still resentful of her sin after so many years, he's obviously in denial of his deep residual feelings toward your mother?" Katerina wondered. "Not that I am, by any means, excusing or forgiving your father for his bad behaviour, I'm sorry to say but I can't stand the man." She added, honestly, while lowering her flushed cheeks._

_Elijah raised his sight in the one of his wife, a surprised expression plastered on his face._

" _None insult taken, I kind of feel the same way toward him, and he's my father! I've never thought of him having any kind of residual feelings toward my mother, not in that romantic way, actually." He finally responded, while shrugging. "Is suppose the reason he is the most resentful would be this child that my mother had with another man, the ultimate betrayal as for his own say."_

" _If he was treating her badly, maybe she simply found comfort in another man's arms? And in result she bore Klaus in her womb?" Katerina added. "That doesn't mean she necessary had deep feelings for the other man, but she must have felt the same love for Klaus, that she felt for her other children, because it was still hers. How come your father never understood that part?"_

" _Because, Klaus wasn't "his", it's the oversized ego of a man, it's as simple as that…. My father is very set on the blood line." Elijah replied, nodding his head, while reaching his wife's position, before cupping her face and softly kissing her forehead._

" _Where's your mother now, Elijah? Did she pass away? Is she still alive?" She asked, while closing her eyes and holding her breath. She could actually feel the beats of her racing heart hitting her chest. What could have possessed her to ask such specific question?_

_Elijah took a step back, before lowering his sight in Katerina's._

" _She … I mean… The woman that we knew as my mother is not in this world anymore." Elijah finally admitted, distantly, while pushing himself away from his wife. "I have to go to my downtown office; you'll be alright by yourself today?"_

_Katerina nodded her head, discreetly, while watching her husband reach the door._

" _Elijah?" She called his name._

" _Mm…" He mumbled the sound, before turning on his heels and drowning his sight in his wife's._

" _I'll be waiting for you." She said, a timid smile blessing her lips._

" _It's actually something nice to hear, beautiful Katerina." He replied, smiling, before leaving the kitchen._

* * *

_Bonnie finally reached the floor through the staircase, before walking toward her art class, while raising her sight on Kol. He was standing; his back turned to her sight, in front of a window, while burying his own on the parking lots._

" _Hey?" She yelled several times, while being ignored by his silence, before bringing her two fingers between her lips to whistle._

_Kol finally turned his head toward Bonnie's standing position._

" _Your class is that way!" She informed him, while rolling her eyes and pointing toward the opposite direction into the corridor. "You do remember the one class you've asked me to sign you for?" She asked, while wondering why she cared so much about this man's whereabouts._

" _Mm… Yes, whatever… Did you see Carolina yet?" He inquired, while scattering both sides of the corridor._

_More than a thousand years on this earth, minus a few unnecessary daggering times, had made him a master of sniffing the danger in advance._

" _What is your deal anyway?" Bonnie asked, while reaching his standing position. "Ok, granted that you are related to Caroline, somehow … Whom, by the way, if I may repeat, is an awesome girl, and I figure that I need to stay polite to you, but … If you had no intention of following an art class, why did you enrol into one?"_

" _Did you ever stop talking?" Kol asked, while narrowing his sight on a man, who was standing in front of the opened class door. Something about his all allure seemed "off" to him, if only for two factors: He seemed to have Scandinavian or Russian blood in his veins, and the fact that he was not able to hear the man's heartbeat was more than suspect to the Original._

" _If I ever stop talking… Are you serious?" Bonnie exclaimed, in shock. "Oh, this is priceless! You, of all people, are asking "me" if I ever stop talking?!" She added with her closed fists placed on each side of her hips. "Are you kidding me? You've been stalking me none stop in the stairs. And now, you seemed indifferent for whatever reasons… Like why do I really care, I don't know, it's beyond me!?" She added, while rolling her eyes. "So, I'll make it easy for you and I'll leave you to your psychopathic attitude, have a nice life!"_

" _Shh…" Kol signed Bonnie to stay quiet, while placing a finger on his lips and one on hers._

" _Did you just shush me?" She asked, indignant, while pushing his finger away. "No one can shush me, you, least of all people!"_

" _Yes, I obviously had to find a way to shut your big mouth, which is not working apparently!" Kol responded, annoyingly, while turning his sight back to the parking. "Finally, brother, it took you long enough!" Kol mumbled, angrily between his teeth, while staring at Klaus and Carolina through the window. "At least I know she's safe." He added to himself, while passing a hand through his tangled hair._

_Bonnie approached the window, before taking a quick glimpse at the below street view._

" _Is this Caroline's husband on the motorcycle?" Bonnie asked, while arching an eyebrow._

" _Yes, it's my brother!" Kol replied, evasively, before noticing the insistent gaze of the brunette._

" _Lord should have mercy on her soul! He's a hunk!" Bonnie exclaimed, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. "You go Caroline!"_

" _You're drooling!" Kol noticed, jealously._

" _Well, yes, did you take a good look at your brother?" The brunette asked, with an arched eyebrow._

" _Most of the time, I don't look at my brother, instead, I take a good look at my own beautiful reflection in the mirror." Kol replied, dryly. "Did you ever take a good look at what I had to offer?"_

" _Vaguely…" Bonnie responded, while lying through her teeth._

_The strange man suddenly turned his steely gaze toward Kol, while drowning his dark eyes in his, it seemed neither one were giving their trust to the other._

" _It's not like I'm interested in you anyway." The pretty liar shrugged._

" _Shh…" Kol asked her to silence herself, once again._

" _Did you shush me again, what's your problem anyway?" Bonnie asked, furiously, while waving a forbidden finger in front of his nose._

_A female student approached the strange man, while addressing herself to him._

" _Damn it, there's really no other way to silence you, is there?!" Kol mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while grabbing Bonnie by the waist to pull her into his arms, before crashing his mouth on hers, under the young woman opened wide eyes and loud cry of protestation._

" _Hi! Are you Alaric Saltzman?" The student asked the imposing man, politely._

" _No." He replied, while shaking his head and avoiding her sight. "I'm a replacement for the day, how do you say it in English?"_

" _You mean an interim teacher?" The woman suggested._

" _Yes." The man nodded. "That's what I am."_

" _Oh, I'm sorry … I hope everything is ok with Mister Saltzman?" The young woman insisted._

" _I couldn't say." The man replied, evasively._

" _You have an odd accent, where are you from?" The student questioned more, under the obvious eagerness of the interlocutor to get rid of this annoyance._

" _It's Russian, I'm from Russia." The man replied, dryly, while pushing the young woman into the class room._

" _I knew it!" Kol exclaimed, while detaching his lips from Bonnie's._

" _What was that?" Bonnie asked, while grabbing his right forearm to keep her equilibrium, before raising her trembling right hand over her lips and lowering her flushed cheeks. "You … You can't kiss me like that… I did not ask for it…. It's … It's …" She stammered through her sentence._

" _I hate what I'm about to do to you, especially after that kiss, but I have no other choices." He mumbled, angrily, to himself, before sighing loudly and grabbing both of Bonnie's shoulders, while drowning his sight into hers. "You'll go downstairs; you'll forget everything about the event prior to now, you'll remember me, but you won't mentioned our conversations to anyone, you'll find Carolina and you'll inform her that the course has been cancelled, do you hear me?" He compelled the young woman._

" _Yes, I hear you." She responded, while obediently nodding her head, grabbing her books that she had left on the edge of the window, before turning on her heels and leaving his sigh._

" _Damn!" He growled, before raising his sight toward one of Ludvig Petrov's man. I guess his expertise in bloody assassination was needed at the moment … Lucky for the students present in this class; they would get a day off without their interim teacher!_

* * *

_Klaus stopped the engine while parking the motorcycle on the left side of the street, in front of the London Art School._

" _Still hanging tightly behind my back, Love?" Klaus teased, while undoing the attached of his helmet, before pulling it away from his head._

" _You… You …" She stammered incoherently, while keeping her eyes shut, with her arms firmly wrapped around his waist._

" _Yes? Are you in need of assistance, perhaps, Carolina?" He mocked more._

" _You, you're a_ _ **сумасшедший**_ _(mad man)!" She managed to let out the angry words out of her mouth, in her natal language, while trying to catch her breath and calm herself down. She finally reopened her eyes, while staring at Klaus's back. "I almost had a heart attack when you … When you raced that truck. Never do that to me again, do you hear me?" Carolina warned, under Klaus's laughter, while hitting her closed fists on his back. "And it's not funny!"_

" _Yes, wife, I shall obey." He agreed, while lowering his head, to hide his overgrown amusement. "But, may I say that you are the one who asked me to go faster, sweetheart?" He pushed the humorous note further._

" _I've said:_ _ **Could you go a little bit faster**_ _, I did not ask to risk my life on your motorcycle!" She mumbled, while jumping away from her sitting position on the two wheels vehicle, before raising her trembling hands to try to undo the strap of her helmet. "And…Argh…. I can't even undo this!" She stamped her feet on the sidewalk, while battling a way out of this imprisonment._

" _Come here!" He ordered, while smirking and gently undoing the strap before removing her helmet under Carolina's sigh of relief. "You were safe with me; Love, I would never put you in any kind of danger on a motorcycle. I've been driving and racing one for years now. And, actually you kind of ask for it…" He contradicted her say, while suddenly imitating her tone of voice. "Oh, Klaus…. Faster, faster, it's exhilarating; I love every minute of it!"_

_Carolina narrowed her fiery sight on him, her arms firmly crossed over her chest, before lowering her flushed cheeks at his implied, under the spell of her over-wild erotic imagination, while being in his presence._

" _I'm sorry; I meant it as … Just that you wanted to experience a faster ride on the motorcycle." Klaus rectified, while wincing and biting the inside of his cheek._ _ **Great Mikaelson, you made her uncomfortable once more… You and your big dirty mouth!**_

_She raised her head, with a smile spreading from ear to ear, while biting her bottom lip, and sliding the tip of her tongue on its length, in a naughty, seductive way._

" _Ok… I'll admit it … I liked it a lot, when you went faster." She confessed in a whisper, with adrenaline sparks coming out of her eyes. "If we would have been on a country road, and not in the center of London, I would have probably asked you to go much…Much…Much… faster." She winked at him._

_Did she have any idea how erotic she sounded just now?_

" _Well, well, Mrs. Mikaelson, aren't you a little sexy thing full of surprise." Klaus mocked, while raising his right hand to place a strand of her short curls away from her face, by sliding it behind her left ear. "It's the helmet… I mean … It tangled your hair." He explained, shyly, while lowering his hand on his lap, before coughing discreetly. This young human woman was reaching parts of his soul that he couldn't even start to explain to himself… "Shyness" had even never been a word in his vocabulary!_

_Carolina suddenly felt the stares of several female students narrowed on Klaus, while also noticing that a few of them were waving their hands at him on their way to school, while others were smiling seductively at her husband … "hers"! How dare they? If those women wanted to find themselves a boyfriend they'll have to find it elsewhere!_

" _What is it?" Klaus asked the young Russian, while noticing her frowning. "Is there something wrong, did I do something to upset you?" He inquired, agitated, while grabbing her left hand in his._

" _Nothing, I assure you." She replied, defenceless, while shaking her right hand in a dismissal gesture._

" _Carolina, talk to me, Love?" He suggested, gently, while grabbing her chin and raising her head, before drowning his sight in hers._

" _They're looking at you." She shrugged, mostly annoyed. "I don't like it a bit!"_

" _Eh… Could you be more specific, I don't quite follow, sweetheart?" He wondered, dumbfounded._

" _Like you don't see them?" She sighed, angrily, while pouting and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Они глупы !" She busted in Russian._

" _They are stupid?" Klaus repeated in English. "Who are you talking about? Oh!" He finally noticed, while lowering his head to hide his laughter._

" _Don't you dare laugh at me again?" She pointed a finger at him. "I feel uncomfortable; they look at you like you're a piece of meat!" She added._

" _They're not looking at me, Love; they're looking at my motorcycle. It's the "bad boy" effect syndrome." He shrugged. "Furthermore, Love; none of them was the lucky "girl" who had the privilege to paint my glorious naked-self last night." He added, mocker._

" _Shh…" Carolina shushed her husband, while lowering her flushed cheeks. "Lower your voice, it's nobody' business but ours!"_

" _I couldn't agree more and I couldn't care less about all of them." He smiled._

" _But, you could, if you wanted to …" She shrugged. "They certainly seem interested in much more than your motorcycle." She noticed, uncomfortable._

" _No, I couldn't, I wouldn't, and I'm not remotely interested in any of those girls! You know why?" He asked her._

_She shook her head, while staring into his deep blue eyes._

" _It's simple…really, because I only have eyes for this blonde bombshell who's "my wife"." He replied, truthful, while surprisingly grabbing both of her wrists. He pulled her in his arms, while sitting Carolina's on his lap, with his right hand firmly placed at the base of her neck, before crashing his mouth on hers._

_She startled at the touch of his hard lips on her trembling ones, before slowly raising her hands on his chest, higher at the best of his neck, while burying her fingers in Klaus's hair._

_He groaned with pleasure at her enthusiastic response, while nibbling on her bottom lip, before intensifying their sensual exchange by sliding his wandering tongue inside her heavenly mouth, under her loud moan of pleasure._

" _There…" He mouthed the words on Carolina's trembling lips, before detaching slowly himself from their embrace, while still keeping his hands around her waist. "Now they know to whom I belong." He added, while murmuring the words seductively near her left ear._

_She detached herself from her husband's embrace, before slowly raising her trembling eyelashes, while standing on the sidewalk with her eyes buried in his._

" _And one day, I'll go faster…Much … Much…Faster… on my motorcycle, just for you." He smirked, while replacing his helmet on his head. "You'll be ok at school today, Love?"_

" _Yes." She nodded, with a smile blessing her lips. "Will … Will I see you at the art shop tonight? I mean, at home? I mean … I … I need to finish the assignment." She stammered, nervously, through her sentence._

" _My wife wants to see me naked? Where else would I be!" He responded, while winking at Carolina, before starting the engine and leaving her sight on a grinding tire._

* * *

_After Elijah's departure, Katerina had found herself busy while giving a helping hand to Maria by taking care of her daily tasks and putting away the breakfast dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The sort of luxury that she had never been accustom to owning in her natal country. Hers and Carolina's life had certainly changed the past few months … Nothing was as it used to be for them. And sometimes, the bare thought of it was shaking the young woman at the roots of her soul._

_She suddenly remembered that she had not picked up the few remaining dirty dishes and glasses scattered in a few of the manor's downstairs rooms. She grabbed a small set of headphones, before sliding them into her ears, while listening to pop Russian music and strolling through the few corridors to pick up the few unclean dishes and glasses she could find._

_If this "alone time" at taking care of those tasks could put Katerina's present worries at ease, she would be grateful. She had no idea how she felt in regard of the reconciliation of her sister with Klaus, but as respect for her own husband and siblings, she needed to let go of her resentment and just detached herself of Carolina's marital problem. Plus, as much as she hated to admit it, she was starting to understand a little bit more the dynamic of Elijah's dysfunctional family, and the outsider's part, Klaus had to play in all of this. It was still no excuse for his attitude, but she was more willing to understand his background as the black sheep of the family, and to give him a chance for redemption. Unfortunately, the same regard couldn't be given to their father, Mikael Mikaelson. Katerina disliked the man with all that she got inside of her, and her suspicion that he could have been responsible of Maria's amnesia wasn't helping her aversion for the man._

_Oddly enough Elijah's office door was half opened when she quickly passed in front of the room, before retracing her steps and standing over the threshold, while biting her fingers' nails. What was she supposed to do? She had promised to not enter her husband study room in his absence? But a few empty dirty glasses and a cup was sporadically placed on several furniture._

_She shrugged her shoulders while taking a glimpse into both sides of the corridor. Who would know after all? She entered the office, before grabbing the few glasses, while placing them on a platter. She finally reached his desktop and strengthened her right arm to grab the empty cup, before lowering her sight on the object._

_She suddenly blenched, while remaining motionless, before hearing her heartbeats rose dangerously in her chest. She raised her shaking left hand into the cup, before wiping its inside and raising her finger to her lips to taste it, and assure herself that it wasn't her mind playing trick on her._

_The next thing that was heard in the silence of the room was the shrill sound of the cup breaking in pieces on the wooden floor…_

* * *

_**Russia, Moscow, a few months earlier…** _

_**Katherine had been pushed inside a limousine, before being blinded and drove toward the final destination of this secret meeting set by the agency. And now, under her fear she was realizing that she should have said no to this "invitation" to escort a wealthy man to a masquerade ball. Her entire and most discretion had been required from her part as to never divulge the name of this mystery man. How many of escort girls had been killed this way in Moscow the past few weeks? It was all over the newspapers. They were found on the side of the route, while being drained out of their blood. Several individuals would even go as far as bringing vampires urban legend as to explain their deaths… Though, Karolina knew better as naming the "vampires" an urban legend … Without knowing the specifics of their existence, she knew they were real as it get, she had known for a long time, but had kept quiet under the secrecy of her work.** _

_**Unfortunately for her, she had been acting irrationally lately, while only thinking of the generous amount of money attached to the contract, and pushing aside her own safety. But now she was probably been driven to her own death … What would happened to her sister Carolina if something would happen to her? But, perhaps she would never have to ask that question again… The marital agency had contacted her… She would finally find a husband for her sister, if only she could make it through the night?!** _

_**The limousine finally reached its destination. She was pulled out of the vehicle; by a firm grip on her right upper arm, before, for what she could feel by her other senses, being escorted inside a large home, into several corridors, and finally being unblended and pushed inside a warm, cozy, luxurious room, with as only noises the rattle of the logs in the fireplace and the door being slam in her back.** _

_**She held her breath under the raising beats of her heart, while grabbing the top of an armchair to held her equilibrium.** _

" _ **You'll have to excuse the bad manners of my guard молодая женщина (young woman). He obviously needs to learn how to act gentlemanly in front of a lady." An imposing Russian man addressed himself to Katerina, while pushing himself away from the penumbra of the room, where he was hiding himself.**_

" _ **You… You speak English?" She stammered, in surprise, while sliding her sight on her client.**_

" _ **да (yes)! So do you?" The man replied, smiling, while directing his steps toward a console bar. "Can I offer you a drink my dear?" He offered, politely.**_

" _ **I don't know if… I mean yes. Are you Ludvig Petrov?" Katerina asked the mysterious man. "I just want to be certain."**_

" _ **Obviously, I am." He responded, while pouring Katerina a Brandy, before pouring a much ticker, much reddish substance in his own.**_

_**Katerina let out a small cry, before raising her right shaking hand in front of her mouth to silence her exclamation of surprise.** _

_**Ludvig Petrov turned his sight toward the young woman, while arching an eyebrow and advancing toward Katerina's standing position, before handing the glass to the Russian.** _

" _ **They assured me that you knew about our vampires' specie?" Ludvig inquired, while taking a sitting position in a leather sofa.**_

" _ **Yes, I know about vampires… I mean, I've escorted one man once … I mean, one man like your kind in the past." She stammered her answer, while nervously swallowing a lump in her throat. "I can assure you that I've always kept my silence about … About your existence."**_

" _ **Let me reassure you: I won't harm you in any way, I give you my words. Now, please, take a seat?" He suggested to her, while pointing toward the armchair.**_

_**Katerina sat on the armchair, while holding her glass of Brandy with both hands to give her reassurance.** _

" _ **What do you know about "us"?" Ludivg asked, while slowly gulping the blood from his glass.**_

" _ **Not much, I can assure you." Katerina replied, truthfully, while shaking her head.**_

" _ **You know what this is?" Ludivg asked the young woman, while raising his glass.**_

_**She nodded discreetly, while lowering her flushed cheek away from his insistent gaze.** _

" _ **We need to drink blood to keep us alive now, it's the only way." He explained. "Have you ever been scared of blood?"**_

" _ **Not particularly … But, it's not in my daily diet for say." She shrugged, mostly disgusted.**_

_**Ludvig Petroc titled his head toward the back, before bursting out laughing.** _

" _ **Oh my dear, aren't you a breath of fresh air in this mad world?" He exclaimed, while striking his teary eyelids.**_

" _ **Listen, I just … I don't want to die, I have a sister … And this was supposed to be one of my last contracts, I want to get out of the escorts business … So, I can accompany you to the ball, or whatever you want to do, but … Please, let me go afterward, my sister needs me…I beg you!" She pledged him to keep her alive, while keeping her sight lock with the Russian man's.**_

" _ **I gave you my words that I wouldn't hurt a single hair on your head. I'm a man of honor." Ludvig responded, while nodding his head. "What is your name?"**_

" _ **Sylvia." Katerina responded, while keeping her real identity a secret.**_

" _ **I want your real name, my dear?" Ludvig insisted.**_

" _ **We can't … I mean we are asked to never give away our real names." She responded, truthfully.**_

" _ **What if I would tell you that Ludvig Petrov is not my real name? It's one that I've appropriated to myself. Would this help? My real name is actually: Valdemar." He presented himself, solemnly, for the second time in less than ten minutes.**_

" _ **Viking related?" She exclaimed, surprised.**_

" _ **You're not only beautiful; you're extremely intelligent as well." Ludvig noticed, proudly.**_

" _ **I'm Katerina," She responded, shyly, while smiling timidly. "Do we need to lead ourselves toward the masquerade ball? Or was it a discreet lie to describe consenting sexual intercourse between an escort and her client?" Katerina asked, point blank.**_

" _ **Well, it's nice to meet you beautiful and "direct to the point", Katerina." Ludivg nodded, smirking. "Now, you don't need to worry, I have no intention to get intimate with you, now or later in the evening."**_

_**Katerina let out a sigh of relief, while closing her eyes…God was with her!** _

" _ **Or making me drank blood, or killing me at the end of the evening?" She asked, with suspicion.**_

" _ **Or to make you drank blood, or to kill you at the end of the evening!" Ludvig responded, with laughter. "No my dear, there's actually a real masquerade ball, mostly attended by vampires and a few humans who are aware of our existence, that's why I needed an escort like yourself." He reassured her, once more, before rising on his legs and calling his guard in Russian. "Bring this young woman to her quarter." He ordered the man, when he entered the room, before turning his sight toward Katerina. "He'll escort you to your bedroom, where you'll be able to change into your masquerade ball gown."**_

" _ **Thank you." Katerina smiled, shyly, while following the Russian guard.**_

" _ **No, it's me who's thanking you, beautiful Katerina." Ludivg nodded his head, while watching her leave the room.**_

_**Checkmate! He thought while smiling heavenly …** _

* * *

_The eldest of the Originals' siblings was sitting in front of his office desk, his brother Klaus placed on his left side, with his back leaning on the panoramic window, and his arms crossed over his chest. The youngest of his brother, Kol, was sitting on an armchair in front of his sight, when the two others accomplices made their entrances._

" _Elijah don't you send this lunatic after me, as my watch dog, ever again!" Rebekah exclaimed, angrily, while entering the perimeter of his downtown office, with Stefan Salvatore on her heels._

" _Oh don't you worry, taming of the shrew, I prefer having both of my hands emerged in an aquarium filled with piranhas, than ever being asked to watch over Princess Cruella Deville ever again!" Stefan mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _Ouch! That was mean of him, sister!" Kol mocked. "You should, perhaps, turn Salvatore into food for werewolves?!"_

" _Oh shut up, Mikaelson!" Salvatore warned the youngest of the Originals, before taking his sitting position in front of Elijah's desk._

" _I was actually thinking about it. What's up brother?" Rebekah addressed a smile at Kol. "Kiss, kiss!" She blew a few in his direction._

" _I kiss- kiss you back, darling!" Kol replied, scoffer._

" _Oh dear God, if this is even possible!" Salvatore complained, while stroking his eyelids._

" _You know it's not because you're miserable and have the worst hair cut in the entire world… No, wait… Make it the entire galaxy that you have to be jealous of the strong love uniting my family." Kol raised his feet on Elijah's desktop._

" _Kol put your feet away from my desktop!" Elijah warned his youngest brother._

" _Hahaha… Is this a joke, Kol? You have the most dysfunctional family in the universe!" Stefan grinned._

" _He's simply jealous." Rebekah responded, before pulling a lime polish from her handbag and starting to file her nails. "No wonder he's still hung up on me." She shrugged._

" _Now, Rebekah, please… Give me a little more credit than that … You think that I am on crack or something, and would want to even touch you with a ten feet pole of distance!" Stefan titled his head toward the back before bursting into laughter._

" _Enough!" Klaus yelled, before covering his eyes with his right hand. "You're acting like children in a day care center!"_

" _See I always knew that Stefan should wear a diaper and a pacifier!" Kol giggled._

" _Kol! You're feet!" Elijah repeated, while pushing his brother's boots away from his desktop._

" _You know it's almost comical coming from you, my dear Klaus." Rebekah rolled her eyes. "So, why did you send "Tarzan" Salvatore after me?" Rebekah asked her two eldest brothers._

" _We need to discuss with you, a common enemy, Rebekah." Elijah started explaining._

_Rebekah lowered her head, before bursting into laughter._

" _Oh, the holiness, Elijah Mikaelson is including me in this "macho" meeting. I should be touched and forever be grateful? Let me grab a handkerchief to shed a tear." She gestured, while pulling one from her handbag, as a theatrical gesture._

" _Rebekah, I don't have time for your display of immaturity!" Elijah warned her._

" _My immaturity is telling you very politely to screw yourself, Elijah!" She replied, with an arch eyebrow, under the speechless expression of the eldest. "Let me indulge all of your testosterones, with a "bit" of my knowledge." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "A man named Ludvig Petrov is presently building an army of hybrids in Russia, and northern Europe, putting in danger the line of vampires that we have created firsthand. Do you have something to add?"_

" _Impressive, sister!" Klaus mentioned, with a smile twisting the corners of his lips. "Did you inform her forehand of this, Salvatore?"_

" _Nope…" Stefan swore, truthfully._

" _I've told you that my delightful sister was not the idiot that you thought she was." Kol smirked, while being proud of his own deduction._

" _What? They said I was an idiot?" Rebekah exclaimed in shock, while wincing._

" _Well, not in this unflattering word, of course, darling!" Kol mocked more._

" _Then you know why we need to stay in close proximity from each other." Elijah added, while rising on his legs from his siting position behind the desk, with his hands now buried in his trousers' front pockets._

" _I figured that much when you have send "Indiana Jones" after me." She took a glimpse at Stefan._

" _Can I at least be respected for saving your pathetic life at the airport?" Stefan asked the Original._

" _Oh please, you were a simple diversion and nothing more; I could have so easily escaped from that "want-to-be" hybrid in the ladies restrooms." She rolled her eyes._

" _You were attacked?" Klaus asked, suspiciously._

" _She was attacked by this mutant gene of hybrid that your father is creating." Stefan replied, while nodding his head._

" _His Father… What does Salvatore mean by that?" Rebekah asked Elijah, with a speechless expression plastered on her face._

" _Ludvig Petrov is what we believe to be: Klaus's biological father, Rebekah." Elijah informed his sister._

" _Oh shit!" Rebekah exclaimed, while raising her hand over her mouth. "This complicates a few things, is it?!"_

" _Well, I had to get rid of one of those mutants, myself, this morning." Kol nodded his head, proudly._

" _What do you mean this morning, at the art school?" Klaus questioned, nervously, while reaching Kol's sitting position._

" _Well, I believe it occurred when you were playing cowboys and Indians on your motorcycle with your wife." Kol explained, smirking._

" _I've said to bring her flowers, did you even listen?" Elijah mocked Klaus, with a smile twisting the corners of his lips._

" _I brought her flowers, but she wanted a ride on my motorcycle." Klaus shrugged, while lowering his flushed cheeks._

" _So, I was saying, while you were playing Don Juan to your wife, I was trying to save her ass. But, don't worry, I send Carolina back home, after taking care of this "Kojac" hybrid of a man." Kol rolled his eyes. "And I had to compel Bonnie, one of your wife's friends, to forget about a kiss that we've shared, which was really disturbing considering my skill in that area of expertise."_

" _Oh just shut up, Kol, I'm going to throw up!" Stefan complained, while burying his head in his hands._

" _Shut up yourself, Salvatore!" Kol busted at the vampire._

" _What was that man doing in the art school?" Klaus questioned, furthermore._

" _Apparently, he was filling the shoes of their teacher for the art class." Kol shrugged. "The moment I've perceived a lack of heartbeats, and a Russian accent, there was no need to be a genius to figure the rest."_

" _So …" Elijah exclaimed, while rubbing his chin and pacing back and forth in front of his visitors. "Klau's biological father is already on our tails, and ours knew about that fact."_

" _Mikael came to the house?" Klaus blenched, while asking and swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _Yes, he came this morning and he, somehow, disturbed Maria at the same time." Elijah responded, evasively._

" _Mother… Is she ok?" Rebekah asked, mostly concerned._

" _She's fine, nothing unusual to worry about." Elijah dismissed the subject with a hand gesture._

" _What our delightful patriarch wanted this time?" Kol asked, suspiciously._

" _Well, for him the easy solution is to hand Klaus and our mother to Ludvig." Elijah responded._

" _He makes his spring cleaning as I can see?" Stefan mocked. "People that have no more purpose in his life can be thrown into the enemy gob!"_

" _I'll hand my mother over my ashes, Elijah!" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _It's pretty much the same idea I gave to him with my answer, brother." Elijah reassured him. "No need to worry."_

" _What do we do now?" Kol asked._

" _We regroup and we keep our eyes and ears opened, while keeping Maria and our wives safe. Ludvig Petrov is meant to make a move sooner than later, in the next days or weeks." Elijah responded, while reaching the window, before burying his sight in the large panorama of London._

* * *

_The "Big-Bang" clock in the parlor room had ringed its seven strokes on what seemed to predict a quiet evening in the manor._

_Carolina let a smile spread on her lips while hearing the door of the art shop being closed on its arch. She was sitting on a wooden stool placed in front of the canvas of her unfinished headless nude model assignment. She had changed her clothes for a pink pair of sweat-pants and a large white t-shirt that denuded the roundness of her shoulders, with several ring toes place on her bare feet as only accessories._

" _We won't take any chances this time, Love; I've locked the door in case Maria would snoop in here." Klaus mocked, while walking in direction of Carolina's sitting position, before handing a wrapped gift to her._

" _What is it?" She asked, surprised, while grabbing the present in from his hands._

" _It's a gift from me … To you." Klaus replied, a timid smile raising the corners of his lips._

" _I … I don't need anything, Klaus; I'm content with what I have and as I am now." She shook her head, while handing it back to him._

" _I know you are… But…" He replied, while pushing the gift back in her hands. "If I can't spoil you with expensive jewelleries, diamonds or Designers' clothes… At least let me spoil you this way." He arched an eyebrow, hopeful._

_She un-wrapped the gift of his silk paper, because grabbing the paint brush engraved on the handle with her initials "C.P.M." – Carolina Petrova Mikaelson._

" _This… This specific brush cost a fortune." She exclaimed, in shock, with a smile from ear to ear, while caressing the bristles in excitement._

" _Sometimes if you want to become the best, you need the best tools." Klaus replied. "Please, accept it?"_

_Carolina raised her sight in the one of her husband, while excitedly stepping away from the stool, before rising on her toes to leave a sweet kiss on his parted lips. "Thank you, I love it." She whispered, before lowering her flushed cheeks and taking a step back from this unexpected embrace._

" _You're welcome, Love." Klaus replied to her, smiling, while turning on his heels and raising his Henley long sleeves t-shirt above his head, before throwing it on a hook placed on the wall. "Do you want the same position as yesterday?" He inquired._

" _Please." She confirmed, while passing the tip of tongue on her bottom lip, with her fiery sight sliding on his muscular chest and back._

" _How was your day at school?" The hybrid inquired with his back turned to his wife, while undoing his leather waist bell._

" _Well, my husband brought me on his motorcycle, with a crowd of groupies who was waiting on the sidewalk for his arrival, then he kissed me goodbye, while marking his territory." She teased, while taking her sitting position back._

" _I meant afterward." He let a laughter sound out of his mouth, while dropping his pair of jeans on the floor. "Still hung up on the groupies' part, aren't you?"_

" _I don't like to share what is mine … I mean … Not that I think that I owe you in any way, shape or form…" She stammered, with heated cheeks. "Oh God, please forget what I've just said." She begged, while raising her right hand on her chest, over her racing heartbeats._

" _I don't like to share either…Especially not "my" wife!" He raised his head to take a glimpse a Carolina, while pushing his boxer on his feet. "So, how was your day, Love?"_

_She raised her sight over the tripod and the canvas, while slowly sliding her eyes on Klaus's naked body. God have mercy on her pour soul … But mostly on her poor heated body! She could feel emerging in her womb; a fire that she wasn't sure could be extinguished so easily this time._

" _Nothing actually, the course was annulled, apparently, the interim teacher was nowhere to be find?" She shrugged. "My friend Bonnie informed me and we just took a quick breakfast together at a near coffee shop."_

" _That's kind of peculiar? I hope nothing happened to him? Well; at least it gave you the day off I suppose." Klaus replied, while lowering his devious smile. "I'm happy you're making friends." He added, truthfully, while taking his previous pose as the designated model._

" _Bonnie is American actually, she's here to study art, like myself." She informed him, while concentrating in her painting task at hands. "She's a nice girl."_

" _Invite her to the Manor if you wish." Klaus shrugged._

" _Can I? I mean … It's "your" home, and…" She couldn't do without asking his permission._

" _Do you have to ask?" Klaus arched an eyebrow, before narrowing his sigh on his wife, while crossing his arms over his chest. No words where necessary to unscrambled his message of disapproval toward her way of thinking._

_**Yes, hubby, it's my home too and I'll invite her!** _ _She thought while shaking her head to him, obediently, before biting her bottom lip to forbid her to burst into laughter._

* * *

" _I'm done!" She exclaimed, proudly, while stretching both of her arms above her head._

_Klaus grabbed his pair of jeans, while sliding them on his legs, commando style, before walking toward her sitting position._

" _Not bad!" He exclaimed, smirking, while taking a look at her technic and lines._

" _Only: Not bad?" She lost her smile, while pouting and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Granted, she had a lot of work in front of her to reach the status of real artist._

" _Are you bribing the teacher for a higher grade, Mrs. Mikaelson?" He whispered, teasingly, while placing himself behind the stool, with his naked chest glued on her back and his hands slowly encircling her waist._

_The heat that his too close proximity was creating in her entire body was almost unbearable to endure at this present moment._

" _Maybe…" She responded, breathless, while closing her eyes. "But you're not my teacher, you're my model." She pointed out._

" _And what would you offer to obtain a better grade?" He inquired, playfully, while softly nibbling on left earlobe. "What if I'll become your teacher, could you handle it?" He asked more, while lowering his manly lips on the left side of her neck, down on the hollow of her bare shoulder, while raising his hands underneath her t-shirt to caress her skin. "I could teach you a lot of different things, Love."_

_Carolina let out a cry of surprise, while being left under this burning and intense desire to give her entire self to her husband._

" _I'm sorry… I didn't mean to scare you… Damn it!" He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while pushing himself away from their embrace, before nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair._

" _Klaus, it is ok….Please, look at me?" He heard the soft whisper of Carolina's voice calling his name, before slowly raising his sight on his wife._

_She stood on her feet, while passing her t-shirt above her head, dropping the cotton fabric on the concrete floor, before standing chest naked in front of his fiery sight._

" _It's… It's too soon, sweetheart… It's my fault, I'm sending you mix signals all the time…" He stammered the words of his sentence, while shaking his head. "Please, dress yourself?"_

_He needed to protect Carolina from himself…He needed to go slow; while considering her needs and not his own selfishness … He needed to slowly gain her trust back… He could only try to convince himself, while sliding his sight on her silky white skin, on her perfect breasts, her slim waist …_

" _Please, let me be the judge of that?" She begged, while taking a few steps to reach her husband's standing position, with her sight still drowned in his._

_She slowly grabbed both of his hands in hers, before softly kissing the inside of his wrists, sliding her sensual lips on their palms, while creating a range of delightful shivers in his spine._

" _Do you know what you're doing to me, Carolina? You're a temptress of my naughtiest desire… I want you so much!" He closed his eyes, while trying to gain strength in himself._

" _And I want my husband's hands on my body." She confessed, with her vision blurred by her own wild desire of him, before placing Klaus's opened palms on her naked breasts._

_The hybrid let a deep bestial growl out of his throat, before cupping the forbidding fruits offered to his eyes, while stroking their hard nipples with the tips of his thumbs under Carolina's loud cry of pleasure._

_He closed his eyes, left under a range of intense turmoil, within himself, before lowering his chin on her head and slowly sliding both of his hands on her naked back, lower on her behind, before raising the young woman in his arms, with her legs firmly wrapped around his waist. He carried her to the work table, before sitting Carolina on its wood._

" _I'm not deserving of you, of this …" He tried to convince his wife, but mostly himself._

_He lowered his manly lips on the deep valley between her swollen breasts, her hips and pelvic kept on an erotic motion with a firm grip of his hands, before soaking one nipple in the warmth of his mouth, while stroking his hard tip with his tongue. He, then, grabbed two hands full of the roundness of her buttock, while sliding his wandering fingers underneath the elastic of her lace panties, by creating an unbearable friction of her burning and wet core on his hard erection._

" _Klaus…" She cried his name, before burying her fingers in the thickness of his hair, while grabbing and softly caressing his locks._

" _No, no … I can't!" He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "I don't want to hurt you… You're everything to me, Love." He confessed, before pushing himself away from her._

" _You won't hurt me! We are passed that …Klaus look at me?" She tried to encourage him, while crossing her arms in front of her naked chest._

" _I can't, Carolina … I'm… I'm afraid for you, and I hate feeling this way!" He stammered, while turning his back to his wife. "Just go, please?"_

_Carolina rose on her shaking legs, before bending her upper body forward, while grabbing her t-shirt left on the floor to dress herself. She, then, courageously, walked toward the art shop door, before grabbing the door handle, while lowering her head on the wood panel, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths into her lungs._

" _I'll wait for you in the bedroom; if we can't passed this, we're doomed to ever be together. It's hard for me too, so hard … But, I'm willing to try, because I want you. At the end…It will be your decision to surpass your own demons or to let them kill you, Klaus." She admitted, before turning the handle and slamming the door on its arch and on her husband speechless facial expression._

* * *

_Elijah entered the penumbra of his bedroom suite, before noticing Katerina standing position in front of the bay window, with her arms firmly crossed in front of her chest, and her sight drown into the darkness of the night._

" _I'm sorry, beautiful; I've been retained at the office for an urgent matter. How's Maria, is she better?" He informed and questioned the brunette at the same time, while getting rid of his jacket, dropping it on an armchair and pulling on his tie, before suddenly holding his pace while noticing her silence. "Katerina?" He called, suspiciously, while frowning and approaching the young woman, before noticing the pieces of a broken cup on a side table._

" _What happened?" He asked, incredulous. "What is this? Did you hurt yourself?"_

_She slowly turned on herself, while drowning her icy glance in his._

" _It's a broken cup that used to be filled with blood." She responded, dryly, under the speechless expression of her husband. "How long were you planning to keep the secret of your vampirism from me? How long would I have been kept in the dark, Elijah?"_


	17. When the truth speak to us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story, that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

 

_**Previously on Sweet kisses from Russia …** _

" _Klaus…" She cried his name, before burying her fingers in the thickness of his hair, while grabbing and softly caressing his locks._

" _No, no … I can't!" He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth. "I don't want to hurt you… You're everything to me, Love." He confessed, still left in deep turmoil, before pushing himself away from her._

" _You won't hurt me! We are passed that …Klaus look at me?" She tried to encourage him, while crossing her arms in front of her naked chest._

" _I can't, Carolina … I'm… I'm afraid for you, and I hate feeling this way!" He stammered, while turning his back to his wife. "Just go, please?"_

_Carolina rose on her shaking legs, before bending her upper body forward, while grabbing her t-shirt left on the floor to dress herself. She, then, courageously, walked toward the art shop door, before grabbing the door handle, while lowering her head on the wood panel, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths into her lungs._

" _I'll wait for you in the bedroom; if we can't go pass this, we're doomed to ever be together. It's hard for me too, so hard … But, I'm willing to try, because I want you. At the end…It will be your decision to surpass your own demons or to let them kill you, Klaus." She admitted, before turning the handle and slamming the door on its arch and on her husband speechless facial expression._

_ooOoo_

_Elijah entered the penumbra of his bedroom suite, before noticing Katerina standing position in front of the bay window, with her arms firmly crossed in front of her chest, and her sight drown into the darkness of the night._

" _I'm sorry, beautiful; I've been retained at the office for an urgent matter. How's Maria, is she better?" He informed and questioned the brunette at the same time, while getting rid of his jacket, dropping it on an armchair and pulling on his tie, before suddenly holding his pace while noticing her silence. "Katerina?" He called, suspiciously, while frowning and approaching the young woman, before noticing the pieces of a broken cup on a side table._

" _What happened?" He asked, incredulous. "What is this? Did you hurt yourself?"_

_She slowly turned on herself, while drowning her icy glance in his._

" _It's a broken cup that used to be filled with blood." She responded, dryly, under the speechless expression of her husband. "How long were you planning to keep the secret of your vampirism from me? How long would I have been kept in the dark, Elijah?"_

* * *

_Musical inspiration:_ _**Полина Гагарина - "Adagio" – On Youtube** _

* * *

_Elijah winced at Katerina's unexpected question, while standing motionless for a few seconds, with his dark glance drowned into the one of his wife._

" _How did you find out Katerina, how? Who told you?" He managed to let the words out of his mouth, while nervously swallowing a lump in his throat. Katerina lowered her sight away from his, while keeping her silence._

" _Who told you, answer me?" He repeated his question, in a louder voice, while passing a hand through his dark hair. This! This moment was exactly what he had been afraid since his brother had brought home this ludicrous idea of contracting an arranged marriage._

" _Does it really make such a difference, Elijah?" She lashed out back at him,_

" _Yes, it does, Katerina!" He replied, before taking a step toward her position, while raising his right hand to his wife._

" _Don't you dare coming near me, and don't you touch me!" She warned, while taking a few steps away from him, before hitting the wall behind her back._

" _Katerina … Please… I would never, ever hurt you; you have to believe me, beautiful." Elijah pleaded, killed by his mixed emotion, while letting out a loud sigh, both hands now placed on each side of his waist._

" _Would you lie? Would you manipulate two human girls from Russia into leaving their country, under false pretences?" She questioned, her fingernails entering the tapestry of the wall._

" _You were the ones who offered your services at the marital agency; I did not oblige you into this marriage, Katerina." Elijah pointed a finger toward her, while blenching._

" _You want to get technical on me now, Elijah? Let's get technical then! We offered our services to marry "humans"!" She lashed out, in anger, her chest rising under jerky breaths. "We were not the ones who lied about our real identities, or did you and your brother convinced yourself that it wasn't a lie?!"_

" _I know, Katerina… I'm just … I'm just trying to… I don't even know what I'm trying to do or say." He stammered, before stroking his eyelids. "I just … I don't want you to look at me like I'm some kind of a monster, exactly like you're doing now." He admitted, while raising his sight back in hers. "I see this fear in your eyes, and it's killing me inside." He added, with a broken voice._

" _If you wanted me to look at you like something else than a monster, then, you should have been honest with me from the start." She managed to respond, while swallowing a lump in her throat. "At the moment I don't even know what or who you are."_

" _How was I supposed to do that?" Elijah lashed out, while pacing back and forth, in front of her sight. "How was I supposed to explain to you that I am actually a dead living man?"_

" _You should have done it simply like you're doing it now." She shrugged her shoulders. "It would have been better than finding it out by myself like I did."_

" _Oh Katerina…" He whispered her name, while trying to approach her again._

" _Elijah! I've asked you to stay away from me." She warned once again, while raising a hand toward his standing position._

" _Not to get technical or anything, but if I really wanted, I would reach your position and you wouldn't even have the time to blink an eye." He responded, while sighing loudly._

_Katerina winced at his imply, while raising her chin in the air as a confrontational gesture._

" _I'm not afraid of you." She mumbled, nervously, between her teeth._

" _Why are you shaking and shivering this way then? I can hear your raising heartbeats from where I'm standing; your blood is pumping rapidly into your veins." Elijah whispered, subjectively, while narrowing his sight on her._

_Even now, after a few months of happiness, and while their perfect world was tumbling on their shoulders, he couldn't do without desiring his wife with his entire vampire being. In a sense she was right to be afraid of him, he was a monster! If she only knew the erotic thoughts that were passing through his brain while hearing the blood circulating into her veins … He wanted to taste her so badly, but he wouldn't have done it without her permission … He wouldn't put her into this kind of emotional pain._

_Katerina closed her eyes, before taking a few deep breaths into her lungs, tears filling her eyes…If she had to die in his hands, at least, she'll do it bravely, but what would happen to her sister Carolina then?_

" _Katerina, open your eyes, please look at me?" He pledged her to listen and obey._

_She slowly raised her eyelashes and blurry vision in Elijah's direction._

" _I won't hurt you… I want you to understand that I would never lay my hands on you or your sister, or put both of your life in danger on purpose… What… What I am, it has nothing to do with who I am when I'm with you… And I'm your husband; I care deeply about you, Katerina… That much is true, you can believe it, and you can believe in me...I swear it on my words of honor." He tried to redeem himself in her eyes. "You've been with me, we shared intimacy together, let your instinct guide you."_

" _Honor is what I thought you were all about, Elijah. Until … Until, this happened." She responded, breathless._

" _I beg of you to give me the chance to explain, please, grant me that privilege, Katerina? If you and your sister want to leave after, me and my brother, we won't retain you." He begged her to reconsider; tear filling his eyes, before taking a few steps toward the bay window, while grabbing its edge with his shaky hands._

" _I … I never thought I'll saw Elijah Mikaelson beg one day?" She responded in a murmur, while passing the back of her right hand on her teary cheeks. "You're shaking?" She noticed._

_Elijah turned his empty stare toward his wife's standing position._

" _I'm nothing without you, Katerina Petrova." He confessed, broken in pieces._

_She closed her eyes, while keeping silent and nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _I won't force something that you obviously don't want … I'll leave you alone. You can lock the door if you feel more secure this way. We'll make the arrangements tomorrow morning." He informed, before dragging his feet toward the exit, his hand now on the handle._

" _Elijah?" She called, before seeing him turn his head toward her. "I knew about vampires prior to my arrival in London." She confessed in front of his speechless expression._

* * *

" _Carolina, Carolina!" She heard her name being called repeatedly by her husband, soon followed by the slamming noise of their suite door._

_She had run into the corridor, from the art shop to their marital suite, a hand firmly placed in front of her mouth to hold her cry, with tears rolling fluently on her cheeks._

_She was now standing in the middle of their room, in front of the bed, her teary eyes closed, with her right hand raised over her neck, where she could feel blood pumping into her vein, with the beats of her heart rising dangerously into her chest._

" _Carolina…" She heard the whisper, while feeling a draft of cold air touch her hair and shoulders when he suddenly opened their bedroom door._

_She kept immobile with her back turned to his sight. She heard Klaus take a few walking steps to reach her standing position, before feeling the warmth of his hands grabbing her shoulders, while slowly turning her body around to face him._

" _No, no. no, no …" Klaus shook his head, in distress, before raising both of his hands to cup Carolina's face. "Don't cry, please, Love." He implored, while closing his eyes and lowering his forehead on hers. "I never want to see you cry, ever again." He implored, while softly passing the back of his hands on her wet cheeks. "It tears me apart to see you like this." He let the admission out of his mouth, before drowning his blue sight in hers._

" _You don't want for us to be together, it's ok … Maybe I don't know what is right anymore… And maybe I'm pushing the issue?" She stammered, while feeling a sobbing spasm hitting her._

" _No, no … I want this, I want you … I want "us" more than anything." He confessed, while letting his lips talk for himself. He softly kissed her teary eyelids, both of her cheeks, before grabbing her chin to capture her salty lips._

_Carolina let out a small cry of surprise, suddenly left under the sensual assault of his hard lips on her trembling ones. He slowly detached his mouth from hers, before gently raising his wife in his arms, while directing his walking steps toward the master suite bathroom._

" _You trust me?" He whispered, softly, while pushing the door with his left foot, followed by the light switch, before entering the room._

_She slowly raised her head and sight in Klaus's, her arms rose around his neck, before nodding her head in approval._

" _Good, sweetheart" He smiled, before kissing her forehead, while slowly dropping her back on her feet. "Can you stand?" He inquired, while keeping both of his hands on her shoulders._

" _Yes" She murmured as a respond._

" _Ok, just wait here, would you?" He asked her to do, while nodding, before turning on his heels and directing his steps toward the bathtub on feet._

_He opened both facets, before grabbing a bottle on an above shelf to pour the bubbly liquid under the running water. He, then, grabbed a box of matches left on the marble counter to light a row of candles placed alongside the bathtub, before turning on his heels to retrace his steps toward his wife._

" _You still trust me, Carolina?" He whispered, softly, while cupping her face with both hands._

" _Yes, I still trust you, Klaus." She nodded, her sight lost in his._

" _Thank you for your trust." He responded, while brushing her lips of a tender kiss._

_He lowered his hands from Carolina's face, unbuttoned his jeans, before slowly letting it slide on his legs, while tossing the fabric aside, before stretching his arm to turn the light switch off, and standing, once again, naked in front of her sight, with as only light, the glimmer of the candles._

" _Are you afraid?" He murmured, while grabbing both of her shoulders. "Do you feel uneasy about taking a bath with me?"_

" _No I'm not. I think I've seen you naked quite oftentimes the past few days." She replied, smirking, while lowering her flushed cheeks._

" _But you're shaking and shivering like a leaf?" He worried, while rubbing her upper arms. "I don't want for you to feel uncomfortable in my presence." He shook his head. "You need to tell me if …"_

" _No… I'm … I'm not afraid…Or uncomfortable…And I want this." She stammered, while reassuring him. "It's just not the same setting than the art shop." She blushed more, while glancing from the corners of her eyes at the bathtub and the candlelight. "And … I'm kind of nervous."_

_Klaus took a step backward, while dropping his hands from her arms._

" _I don't want to push something that you don't want." He replied._

" _No, no … I meant a "healthy" kind of nervous." She grabbed both of his hands, while reassuring him with a timid smile._

" _You're sure?" He asked, uncertain._

" _Yes." She nodded, confident._

_He raised her hands to his lips, before kissing the tips of her fingers, one by one._

" _Wait here." Klaus smiled, before turning his back and taking a few steps toward the bathtub, before closing the facets and straddling the edge of the tub to enter the water. "Come join me?" He invited Carolina, while handing his right hand to her._

* * *

" _What do you mean you knew?" Elijah asked, in shock, while releasing his grip on the door handle before turning on his heels to face her._

" _Please, leave the light off, would you?" Katerina asked of him, while seeing her husband raised his hand to push the light switch._

" _I'll do as you wish, Katerina." He nodded, respectfully. "Can I … Can I take a few steps toward you?"_

_Katerina nodded her head in approval, before letting herself fall on the carpet, while leaning her upper body on the wall placed behind her back._

_Elijah copy-cat her position, before letting himself dropped on the carpet, at the opposite wall of the bedroom, while facing his wife._

" _Was it a glimpse of a smile that I just saw on your lips?" He noticed, observer, while raising his legs and encircling his knees with both of his arms._

" _It's dark in the bedroom; you couldn't see a thing in front of your nose." She shrugged, while lowering her flushed cheeks, to hide her nervous need to burst into laughter. "Or do you have a supernatural sight? Is it related to your vampire abilities also?"_

" _No, it's related to a good night vision." He mocked._

" _Fine, I was smiling, simply because … I was thinking that it must have been excruciating for you to sit on the carpet, in an Indian style. It goes totally against the good manners and impeccable etiquette of Duke Elijah Mikaelson." She couldn't do without snubbing him._

" _See, what I'm able to do for you, Katerina Petrova?" He let a smile spread on his lips. "If I'm not thinking too much about the germs present on the carpet, I should be ok." He replied, scoffer, before regaining his seriousness. "How did you know about the vampire's existence?"_

" _I learned because of the escort agency." She confessed in a murmur, while swallowing a lump in her throat. "From time to time they would send us on dates with one of your kind. We would be asked to keep quiet about our involvement with the supernatural world, like those dates never happened." She informed him._

" _You saw a few of vampires in Russia, then?" Elijah inquired, with interest._

" _Yes" She nodded. "Though, I was one of the lucky ones, I never saw one of their transformations, or never had to …" She closed her eyes, while taking a deep breath into her lungs... Vampire or not, he was still her husband, and she felt uncomfortable to talk to him about her troubled past life. "I never had to share a bed with one of them. I was merely asked to accompany them into underground parties, secret society meeting, I supposed at the time."_

" _Why do you say that you were one of the lucky ones?" Elijah asked, while raising an eyebrow._

" _A few weeks before leaving Russia to meet you, there were several attacks on the girls; the police would find them in the early morning, on the sides of the routes, with two distinct holes on their necks." Katerina explained. "Did you ever kill humans?" She asked him, point blank._

_Elijah blenched under her unexpected question, before lowering his head on his knees._

" _Yes" He responded, shamefully._

" _Was it essentially to nourish you?" She asked more. "I … I know that you need blood to survive."_

" _No, not always…Sometimes it was to defend myself, or simply for the pleasure of the hunt… But, it was a long, long time ago. As of now we nourish ourselves with blood bags." He replied, while sighing loudly. "It's a process, Katerina, one day you're turning from a human being to a vampire the next. It involves stages."_

" _When did you turn?" She asked, nervously. "How old are you?"_

_Elijah let a nervous laugh out of his mouth, while rapidly passing a hand through his tangled hair._

" _Remember when you thought I was old, Katerina? Well, you were kind of right." He responded, while biting his bottom lip._

" _What … What do you mean, how old are you?" She asked, with a shaking voice._

" _More than a thousand years old." He replied to his speechless wife, while raising his stare in hers._

* * *

_Carolina stood motionless with her sight drowned in her husband's for a few seconds._

" _If you don't want to join me, it is ok, Love, it's more than fine." Klaus whispered, softly, to his wife. "We can stop now … And…"_

_Carolina took a step forward toward his position, before sliding her trembling hands in his. He gently pulled her toward him, while still standing in the bathtub, before slowly proceeding to undress her. He raised his hands on her denuded shoulders, before sliding his opened palms on Carolina's upper and forearms, while creating a range of butterflies in her belly, where his fingers were touching her bare sensitive skin. He, then, grabbed the hem of her t-shirt to raise it above her head, before throwing the piece of clothes on the marble floor of the bathroom._

_She stood bare chest with her perfect firm breasts exposed to his sight._

" _You're so beautiful." He whispered, kissing the top of her head, before encircling her slender waist with both of his hands, while slowly sliding his fingers underneath the elastic of her sweatpants and panties, on the delicious curves of her butt. "If you want me to stop, you just need to say it, and I'll stop, sweetheart." He murmured near her left ear._

" _I'm fine." She nodded, while raising her sight in Klaus's, her shaking hands rising on his muscular chest in slow circular motion, before closing her eyes and nibbling softly on his bottom lip under his moan of pleasure and surprise._

_He pushed the remaining clothes down on her legs, before detaching his lips from hers, and taking a sitting position on the bathtub._

" _Come in the water with me?" He invited Carolina, while smiling tenderly to the young woman, before handing his right hand._

_She stepped away from the pile of clothes left at her feet, while grabbing his hand and entering the bathtub, before laying in the bubbly water, between his legs and the warmest of his arms, her head now resting on his chest._

" _Are you comfortable?" He asked, while sensually sliding both of his hands on the length of her arms._

" _Mm… Yes, very." She whispered, content, while grabbing his hands, before interlacing her fingers with his._

" _I've reached heaven, holding you in my arms this way, Love." Klaus murmured, while raising his right hand to caress her short curls, before softly kissing the top of her head. "We need this moment between us, Carolina; we need to find peace within ourselves."_

_Carolina turned her head toward Klaus; with her sight now drown in his, her right hand rising to caress the manly line of his jaw, before closing her eyes and approaching her lips from his._

_Klaus grabbed her chin, while closing his eyes and finally tasting the sweet aroma of her mouth, before deepening their kiss by sliding his tongue between her trembling lips._

_She moaned sounds of pleasure, before pivoting and facing her husband to slide her arms around his neck, while letting Klaus invade her mouth and share this erotic exchange, both of their breathing intensifying under their mutual sexual arousal._

_He let a grunt of satisfaction out of his mouth, both of his hands slowly caressing the silky skin of her back, while lowering them in the warmth of the water, before sliding his lips on her neck and firmly grabbing her butt to bring Carolina in full contact with his growing erection. She let out a cry of surprise, while retracting herself._

' _I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I did not think…" He growled, madly, against himself. "I go too fast, and … Damn it, Mikaelson!" He swore to himself. "It's just because you're so beautiful and I want my wife so much."_

" _No, no … This time it's me!" She shook her head, while raising her right hand to caress his cheeks. "I want this, I want you, and I wouldn't be naked with you in this bathtub if this wasn't the case … It's just that …It's not what you think, it's …" She tried to explain, while feeling a fire reaching her face. "I'm just shy… And extremely nervous…You have this effect on me." She confessed. "And mostly I'm unexperienced, and most of the time I don't know what to do with myself, how to react…In many ways it feels like the first time to me."_

_Klaus startled at Carolina's admission, while raising his sight in hers, before swallowing a nervous lump in his throat._

" _Do you … Do you know how… How happy it makes me feel to hear you admit this, Carolina? While giving me a second chance that I don't even deserve? Most of the time I forget your inexperience because you're so perfect to me." He stammered, while closing his eyes. "Love … I won't ever hurt you like I did in the past, I swear." He shook his head. "I just want to give you the most pleasure possible in my arms."_

" _I know that, now … I trust you." She confessed, honestly, while resuming her lying position in his arms. "Then, could you show me how to make love, could you caress me and give me pleasure?" She whispered her erotic request, before closing her eyes._

_Klaus stood motionless for a few seconds, before closing his eyes and sighing loudly. Did she have any idea how provocatively erotic she sounded just now? One sure thing, his hard as a rock erection was proof enough that she was not aware of the emotional and physical effects she had on him._

" _I'm as nervous as you are; you know, if not more… You need to show me what you desire... Direct my hands, Love." He whispered, while giving Carolina the confidence she needed within herself._

_She grabbed both of his hands, before slowly placing his opened palms on the roundness of her breasts._

" _You want me to caress your breasts?" He asked, softly._

" _Yes." She whispered, with a trembling voice._

_Her breathing intensified when Klaus firmly cupped, caressed and rubbed both of her breasts, before using the tips of his fingers to circle the aureoles in slow motion, while stroking and pinching the hardness of her erected nipples, in a mix of erotic pain and pleasure. She instinctively raised both of her arms around his neck to give him a free access to her offered body. She arched her back to bring her skin in closer contact with his hands, with her pelvic area rising instinctively in an up and down movement, at the same time his lips were now nibbling on her ear and devouring the left curve of her neck and shoulder._

_Carolina grabbed his right hand, before gently pushing it under the water, on her belly, lower on her Venus mouth._

" _You're sure?" He breathed heavily, while caressing her pelvic area._

_She nodded affirmatively, while biting into her bottom lip when the tips of his fingers firstly brushed her intimacy, in light, almost not perceivable, touches, before using his thumb to stroke her swollen bump._

_Klaus growled sounds of pleasure, while burying his head in the hollow of her shoulder. He could feel her arousal on his fingers, through the water, and this was the added proof he needed to confirm that his wife wanted him as much as he wanted her._

_He strengthened his upper body in a sitting position, before encircling her waist, while still caressing her folds in slow erotic movements, under her intensified moaning and shortness of breaths. She positioned herself to rub her bottom on his sensitive and hard erection while providing him the hard and continuous friction needed to release his sexual tension._

_They both climaxed and fell into the back of the bathtub a few minutes later, with their heavy breaths as only sound to fill the silence of the room._

* * *

" _What?" She replied, in shock, with wide opened eyes. "How is this even possible? Your body is so well preserved for a man of thousand years old, how can you be so old and look like you do now?"_

" _I'm sorry for the laughter and if I seem amused… It's just…Count on you, beautiful, to make this sort of point blank remark." He shook his head, before stroking his wet eyelids. "I was in my thirties when I've turned."_

" _So, you'll look your human age for how long?" She asked, dumbfounded._

" _I'll look this way forever, Katerina, I'm immortal." He replied._

" _I can't even…" The young woman closed her eyes, overwhelmed with thoughts, while shaking her head in disbelief._

" _It's ok, take your time." Elijah nodded. "I know it's a lot to process, but I'm here to answer all the questions that you need me to respond."_

" _At this rhythm, it'll take all night." She replied, while taking a deep breath into her lungs. "I won't be satisfied until I'll know everything."_

" _Then, it'll take all night; I'm here as long as you want me to be." He reaffirmed. "You're my wife, Katerina, for better or worse … We've reached our worse."_

" _It's now that you're thinking of bringing our vows to the table?" She replied, slyly._

" _Yes, because I believe that we can't find a way to beat this, to understand each other." He replied, firmly._

" _You'll sit on the carpet all night?" She raised one of her eyebrows, suspiciously, while retaining a smile from spreading on her lips._

" _Yes, if I have to do it, I will." He responded, a rictus twisting the corners of his lips. "I'll endure this sufferance for you."_

" _Did you ever think of biting me since I've been married to you?" She asked, unexpectedly._

" _That is what you want to ask me as first questions?" He blenched, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat, before lowering his sight._

" _Well, I'm sorry, Elijah, I've forgotten to bring my book of: "100 questions to ask to your vampire husband the day you'll find out he's one of them"!" She exclaimed, in rage. "Don't I deserve answers to all my questions after lying to me for months? Whatever order they'll come out?" She asked, dryly._

" _Yes" He replied, while sighing loudly._

" _Yes, I deserve answers?" She questioned._

" _Yes, I thought of biting you…Multiple times." He responded, wincing._

_Katherine startled, while bringing her legs near her chest, as a protective gesture._

" _Katerina, don't be afraid of me, please?" He begged, while shaking his head. "It's eating me inside to see you fear me this way."_

" _You've just told me that you have thought of biting me, and you want me to sit tranquilly, with the slim chance that you could actually do it to me now?" she asked, while raising her shaking right hand over her mouth._

" _I swear on my siblings' heads that I would never, ever, hurt you intentionally. If this had been the case, I would have done it already, I had plenty opportunities when I was lying by your side, in "our" bed, Katerina." He reassured her. "It's not the way you think." He tried to explain, while shaking his head._

" _How many other ways is there to bite your wife and to suck her blood?" She asked, with a shaking voice._

" _It's sexually." He replied, courageously, while swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _What?" She exclaimed, dumbfounded._

" _Exchanging blood while having intercourse with a partner is …" He tried to explain, before taking a pause to regain his countenance. "For vampires, it fulfils them, erotically speaking, it's the peak of their sexual arousal."_

" _I see…" Katerina responded, while lowering her flushed cheeks. "And me who thought that I was a professional, and knew how to please a man, I guess I was wrong." She added, dryly._

" _Katerina, please… You perfectly know how sexually drawn to you I am." He replied, choleric. "Don't you mix the cards and diminish what we have between us in your head." He warned, before adding. "What else do you want to know?" Elijah inquired, while subtly changing the subject._

" _Are all your siblings vampires?" She asked her husband, her thoughts centered on Maria. Does she know now, even while being amnesic? Is she feeding herself blood? Is she one of them?_

" _Yes." He nodded. "We are the Originals' Family."_

" _What is this even mean?" She wondered, while shrugging._

" _Well…" He sighed loudly, while rubbing his hands together. "We are the first vampires; from us all the future lines of vampires were created."_

" _This… This is… This is not reassuring me at all." She stammered through her sentence. "So, are you more powerful or something?"_

" _Yes we are more powerful, and as oppose to ordinary vampires, we can't be killed." He replied, to her. "We are truly immortal."_

" _It's a bummer!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest, while rolling her eyes._

" _Come on, Katerina, You wouldn't kill me, if you had the chance, and you know it." He replied, while fixating his sight on her._

" _Don't be so sure of yourself, Duke Mikaelson." She replied, dryly. "I'm a Petrova and Russian after all; fire runs into my veins, I'm quite unpredictable when I want to be."_

" _If this was the case, you wouldn't be sitting with me, in the dark, in "our" bedroom, and on this carpet, while chit chatting, you would have tried to kill me already." He thought out loud._

" _Tell me, if you were the first vampires, Elijah, who turned you as such prior to your present existence?" She asked._

" _It was a curse that my mother put on us." He replied, while swallowing a lump in his throat._

_Maria? That couldn't be possible? Could it?_

" _I don't know what to say?" She replied, in shock. "How could she put a … curse or spell on her all children?"_

" _If your mind is able to accept this fact: She was actually a witch." He gave her the short version of an answer. "She did it to protect us at that time, which could seem twisted now."_

" _Well, of course, how dumb of me….She's a witch!" She rolled her eyes even more. "I was at their convention last month, I should have known." She added, slyly._

" _I know it's a lot to take all at once." He sympathised. "And to tell you the truth, there's not much to say to this point and discussing about it won't change anything." He replied to her. "We are what we are as of now, and nothing will change that fact."_

" _What about Klaus isn't he your half-brother?" She asked, hopeful of a miracle for her sister. "Is he a vampire too? And what about your mother, was she one too?"_

" _My mother is not with us anymore, there's not need to bring her into this." He winced, while avoiding the subject._

_Damn! Thought Katerina, while biting into her bottom lip, she'll have to go directly to the source to know the truth …The source named: Maria!_

" _As for Klaus, it's different for him." He informed. "He's a hybrid."_

" _Ok, for whatever that means." She said, while trying to control her jerky breaths. "Is it better or worse for my sister?"_

" _Neither. He's carrying two genes inside of himself, he's a vampire and a …" Elijah frowned, while closing his eyes. This would certainly be hard for her to swallow. "And he is also a werewolf."_

" _Oh my God… This can't be happening!" Katerina lashed out, while grabbing her head with both of her hands._

" _Katerina, it's going to be ok, let me …" Elijah tried to help, while rising on his knees._

" _No, don't come near me, please, stay where you are!" She forbade him._

" _Ok, calm down, I'll sit, I won't move." He reassured her, while taking back his sitting position._

" _Werewolf… You mean like in the legends, a wild dog?" She asked, while biting her lips._

" _Yes, but you shouldn't worry, he's not transforming at the full moon into one anymore." Elijah tried to appease her worries._

" _Oh yes, I feel so much better now, Elijah." She replied, breathless._

" _I'm doing my best, Katerina." He replied, while sighing loudly._

" _What he is … Is it why he … I mean …" She tried to asked, but without able to let the words out of her mouth._

" _Is it because Klaus is a hybrid that he has acted the way he did with your sister?" Elijah tried to help the young woman reformulate her thoughts._

_She nodded, in approval._

" _No and yes … We, my siblings and I, are the same people as we used to be as humans, Katerina, we mutate into vampirism, with our own amplify personal traits, but without changing the essence of our own being." He explained to her._

" _He could hurt my sister… I mean, he could hurt her way more than he already did? Could he?" She panicked, while raising her hand over her trembling lips._

" _Katerina look at me?" He implored, before meeting her gaze. "No, he won't hurt Carolina, because she is his wife and he fell in love with your sister. And frankly, to be fair, I believe she fell in love with him too."_

" _How … How could you even know that for sure?" Katerina asked, surprised._

* * *

_They had dried themselves and wrapped body towels around their naked bodies, before having returned into the penumbra of their bedroom._

_Klaus slowly detached the body towel around Carolina's body, before pushing the fabric down on her shivering silhouette, his fiery sight sliding on the delicious body curves of his wife._

" _You're ok?" He asked, with an arched eyebrow, while raising his right hand, before caressing the softness of her cheeks._

_She nodded with a timid smile spreading on her lips, while sliding both of her hands on his naked muscular chest, unknotting his own body towel placed around his hips, before throwing the damped fabric on the floor a second later._

" _You're kind of naughty, Mrs. Mikaelson, what am I going to do with you?" He teased, while sliding his hands on her waist, his head buried in the right side of her neck, before surprisingly lifting her up on the bed._

_She let out a small cry of surprise, soon followed by a delightful laughter sound._

" _It takes one to know one." She replied, playfully, before feeling the weight of his body slowly sliding on hers._

" _Listen to me." He ordered her, in a more serious tone of voice, while cupping her delicate face with both hands, his dark sight now lost in hers. "At any moment you want me to stop, for whatever reasons; you just have to tell me, ok, and I'll stop?"_

" _Ok" She nodded, smiling, while feeling his lips slide on her neckline. "Klaus?"_

" _Yes?" He raised his head, in alert._

" _You're talking too much." She mocked, playfully._

" _You're right, Love." He winked, before slowly sliding his right hand on the side of her left breast, down on her slim waist, lower on the delicious curve of her hip, before grabbing a hand full of her bottom, while letting his lips capturing her erected nipple, stroking the hard tip with his tongue, in an erotic suction pressure._

_Carolina whispered her lover's name on her lips, her head rolling on the pillow, on both sides, alternatively, while curving her back to meet the hardness of his body, with both of her hands buried in his soft curls._

_Klaus growled sounds of pleasure, while lowering his warm lips from her breast, to the soft skin of her belly, in a mix of kissing and licking, his tongue now teasing her belly button playfully. He gently grabbed both of her ankles to raise her knees, while granted himself the access to her burning chore. He left a range of burning kisses inside both of her thighs, before burying his head between her legs, his tongue softly sliding on her swollen folds, while avidly tasting the sour and sweet taste of her arousal on his lips and mouth._

_Carolina was now panting heavily, left under a shortness of breaths, while grabbing the bedspread with both hands to help release the intense tension in her body. She suddenly strengthened her upper body in a sitting position, resting the weight on her left hand, before burying her right in his hair, while softly caressing his hair and pushing his head in a nearer proximity of her intimacy._

_He raised both of his hands on each side of her pelvic, firmly keeping her immobile, while sliding his tongue inside of her, in an intense twirling erotic movement, before capturing between his lips, the over sensitive bump that would drive her over the edge of her sexual arousal._

_Carolina let herself fall back on the bed, her eyes fully closed, before strongly grabbing the headboard with both hands… this was it, she would soon die! And then … Nothing? She felt the weight of Klaus's body sliding back on hers, while instinctively contracting her walls muscles, before opening her eyes widely. Klaus had thrust his hard member at the entrance of her chore._

" _Shh… I won't move for a while, you'll get use to my presence inside of you." He reassured her, softly, while caressing her hair and burying his head in her neck. "Does it hurt you?" He asked in a whisper._

" _A little bit…" She responded, breathless._

" _I'm sorry... I'm so sorry…" He said, apologetically, while raising his head and drowning his teary sight in hers._

" _Klaus, no, no… Don't be sorry, not this time, you have no reasons to be." She reassured him, timidly, before raising her right shaking hand to brush a tear away from his cheek. "It feels better already." She added, smiling, while brushing his lips of a kiss and crossing her legs around his waist, before slowly raising her hips to bury his length inside of herself, in a mix of intense pain and pleasure._

" _Oh Carolina, Carolina …" He whispered her name, repeatedly, while sliding both of his hands above her head, on the length of her arms, before strongly interlacing his fingers with hers._

" _Klaus…" She let his name out of her mouth, while welcoming him deeper into herself, with each strong and intense thrust of his pelvic. She finally reached her sexual peak, while contracting her muscles on his length, before crying his name, soon followed by his own cry of release._

_ooOoo_

" _Is it this powerful for everybody?" Carolina asked, curious, while raising her head from his chest, her sight drowned in Klaus's._

" _No" He replied, truthfully, while sliding a strand of her hair behind her left ear._

" _No?" She questioned, doubtful._

" _No it's not." He shook his head, smiling. "It's only reserved to "us"." He added, while playfully stroking the tip of her nose._

" _Then I'm glad… I'm glad it's only you and me." She concluded, sparks in her eyes, while lowering her head on his chest, with her hand softly caressing his manly skin in slow circular motion, before yawning and closing her eyes._

" _So am I." Klaus responded, while caressing Carolina's hair, before kissing the top of her head._

_A few minutes later, he lowered his head and sight to take a look at the young woman, only to notice that Carolina had fallen asleep in his arms, a blissful smile on her lips._

* * *

" _Your sister stayed in London and waited for my brother's return for a period of six months, she found it within herself to forgive him, and as for him, he came back for her, if this is not love, then what is it?" Elijah shrugged to his wife._

" _I couldn't say …" Katerina whispered, sadness filling her eyes, while lowering her sight away from his._

" _You never even felt …" Elijah asked, sadly, without finishing his sentence._

" _I've protected my heart all my life; men were a mean to an end, Elijah. I had never thought much about this sentiment called "love"." She shrugged. "That's why when I've met you; I thought I had found a way to be in a relationship with a man that I thought could at least bring me the foundation of respect and thrust." She added with tears filling her eyes._

" _Oh Katerina…" Elijah whispered her name, left under a range of turmoil. "You have "me"; I swear you can trust "me". If I kept quiet it was for your own protection and the one of your sister, and because I was so afraid that you would reject what I am, because as much as I want to change, I can't change that fact… I'm a vampire."_

" _Tell me something, Elijah, why would you and your brother pick ordinary human girls to marry when you can obviously have immortal ones by your side." Katerina lashed out._

" _Because I don't want any other human girl or vampire one, I want "you", Katerina Petrova. You're the only woman that I've wed in thousand years, and I take our vows seriously." He responded, firmly, to her. "If this was not evident to you, I'm sorry." He added. "The first day I saw you, I knew that you would be my perfect match, beautiful."_

_Katerina felt an intense fever reaching her cheeks, with the beats of her heart rising dangerously in her chest… The way he was staring at her, the way he made her feel, she knew instinctively that no other man could ever achieve it._

" _Now that I know, maybe I'll leave you for good, Elijah? Did you think of that?" She responded, while raising her sight in his. "It would be my right."_

" _I won't retain you by my side, Katerina; I'll give you the respect and thrust that you deserve, and I'll let you go, you'll be free of me." He confessed, truthfully to his wife. "But I want you to stay; I want you to give us a chance, I don't want to lose you, Katerina, I don't want to lose my wife."_

" _I… I don't know what… What this even means?" She stammered, nervously, while passing a hand through her long curls. "I don't know what being the wife of a vampire implies?" She asked more. "I don't know how my sister will react?"_

" _You've lived with a vampire for months, Katerina; it will exactly be the same between us." He reassured her._

" _Except that you're drinking blood to keep you alive." She repeated this fact more to herself than for his behalf. "Did you eat food in front of us as a decoy?"_

" _No" He smiled, while shaking his head. "We still enjoy food; both of your presence did not change anything about our daily routine."_

" _Elijah?" She called his name._

" _Yes, Katerina, what do you want to know?" He replied._

" _Tell me the truth…Were you planning of turning me as a vampire one day?" She asked, while nervously rubbing her hands together._

_Elijah closed his eyes, while lowering his head and sighing loudly…Count on this beautiful, intelligent woman to ask the right questions._

" _No, not as of now, I was not planning to turn you." He replied, honestly._

" _But, you wanted to do it later, am I right?" She asked, breathless. "I would be aging, and you would stay young and …"_

" _You've always said that I was kind of looking old." He mocked, while trying to relax the atmosphere._

" _I want an answer, Elijah." She begged him to answer._

" _Yes, I thought of turning you, eventually." He replied, shamefully. "Not because I'm afraid of seeing you aging, Katerina, it's because I don't want to lose you to death. The thought of it is making me sick." He let the whisper out of his lips, while raising his sight in hers. "But I would never do it against your will, you have to believe me." He reassured her. "It's in your hands now, It all depends if you want to stay by my side or not?"_

" _I don't know if I can believe in you anymore." She replied, while shaking her head and swallowing a lump in her throat. "I'll need time to think… I'll need time to figure out how to explain this to Carolina."_

" _It shouldn't be your place but her husband." Elijah suggested._

" _Give me a day or two." She asked of him._

" _I'll give you all the time you need." Elijah nodded, respectfully._

* * *

_After hours, Katerina Petrova had finally fallen asleep with her body curled on the carpet, and her head tucked between her arms._

_Elijah rose on his legs, while silently approaching his wife laying position, before kneeling by her side to raise her frail silhouette in his arms. He carried her toward their bed, while opening the bedspread and laying her on the mattress, before covering her body of the sheet. She moaned in her sleep, while turning her head on the pillow, but without fully waking up._

" _Oh Katerina … I've never wished for you to be so hurt and lost in all of this." He whispered, tears filling his eyes, while lowering his upper body near hers, before softly kissing her forehead. "Sleep my angel; you have my heart in your hands now." He added, before turning on his heels and leaving the bedroom._

* * *

" _You woke up early and you are already dressed?" Carolina noticed, smiling, while yawning and stretching her arms above her head. She strengthened her upper body in a sitting position on the bed, before raising the sheet on her naked chest._

_Klaus picked up his leather jacket on an armchair, before turning his sight toward his wife, a sudden smile blessing his lips…She was so beautiful with the morning light on her short hair._

" _I did my best to not wake you up, Carolina, you were snoring like a pig, in the early morning." He mocked, while taking a few steps to reach the bed, before lowering his head to capture her soft lips. "Morning, Love." He greeted her, before pushing himself a step away from their kissing embrace, a glimmer of admiration in his eyes… This beautiful woman who was holding his heart and soul in her hands was "his" wife, he couldn't be more proud._

" _I don't snore!" She protested, vehemently, while hitting his chest with both of her closed fists._

" _I beg the difference, sweetheart, you do. There's this adorable sound that's coming out of your mouth actually." He replied, scoffer, while caressing her hair._

" _You really need to leave, now?" She questioned, annoyed._

" _Sadly yes, but I don't want to leave "you"." He comforted her. "Elijah wants to see me at his downtown office, but I shouldn't be long." He added, while caressing her cheeks. "Don't you have school today?"_

" _I feel like staying at home and wait for you." She smiled, shyly, while shrugging her shoulders. "We could pass the day in bed?" She added to him, seductress._

" _I like the way "my wife" think. Don't tempt me, Love." He replied, hoarsely, while grabbing her chin, before brushing her lips once more. "I'll be back in your arms sooner than you think, or you'll be back in mine, as you want to put it." He promised her, while advancing toward the bedroom door._

" _Klaus?" She called his name softly._

" _Yes, Love?" He replied, while holding his pace and turning his sight in Carolina's._

" _I'll be in yours for all the days of our life as of now." She added, sincerely, before seeing him leave the suite, a smile plastered on his lips, from ear to ear._

_After more than one thousand years, the hybrid could finally taste what "happiness" truly meant…_

* * *

_Carolina strolled happily into the corridors of the mansion, barefoot and dressed of a PJ short and a tank top, before directing her walking steps toward the kitchen. She pushed the swinging doors, before passing her head inside to see if the maid had arrived for her morning chores._

" _Maria…Maria are you here?" She called, but only the silence responded her call._

_She stepped inside the kitchen, while directing her walk toward the pantry. She was eager to meet Maria today, and finally tell Klaus's mother about her reconciliation with her son. But most of all, she was famished! After the night she had passed in her husband's arms, she felt like she had no more energy inside of herself. She blushed at the erotic images coming into her mind, while opening the doors in search of a chocolate spread to put on a slice of bread. She came empty handed, before finally remember that Maria had mentioned to her that there was a food reserve and a cold room in the basement._

_She grabbed the key ring attached to a hook, while storming out of the kitchen. She descended the stairs leading her steps to the cellar, before sliding a few keys inside the lock, before finally finding the right one. She pushed the steel door, while turning the light switch and entering the basement._

_There were two walls filled with expensive bottles, of what seemed to be a wine cellar. Carolina strolled by it, before finally seeing Maria, her back turned to her sight in front of an opened freezer._

" _Here you are, Maria!" She exclaimed, joyfully, while entering the cold room. "I was actually looking for you and a jar of chocolate spread to be honest."_

_The maid remained motionless, with her head leaning forward._

" _Maria, are you ok?" Carolina asked, while suddenly losing her smile._

" _Just… Just go, my child, leave, I'll… I'll see you upstairs; I'll be there in a second…" Maria stammered through her sentence._

" _What is it? Are you sick?" Carolina asked, while reaching the maid's standing position._

" _Please, leave!" Maria begged the young woman to do, while raising her left hand to stop her._

" _No, I won't leave if something is wrong with you?" Carolina replied, before grabbing Maria left shoulder to force the maid to face her._

_Carolina startled, while rapidly stepping away, before hitting the wall behind her back. In front of her, the horrible sight of Maria standing with what seemed to be a blood bag in her hands, with a trickle of the red elixir streaming down her chin._

_A cry echoed in the silence of the morning, loud enough to shack the walls of the manor._

" _Carolina?" Katerina yelled her sister's name, while waking up at the loud scream, before strengthening her upper body in a sitting position on the bed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter up to date, guys :)   
> I hope you've enjoyed this story up to now?   
> I should update in about a week or two.  
> Keep safe :)


	18. Under the attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

* * *

_**Previously on Sweet kisses from Russia …** _

_Carolina strolled happily into the corridors of the mansion, barefoot and dressed of a PJ short and a tank top, before directing her walking steps toward the kitchen. She pushed the swinging doors, before passing her head inside to see if the maid had arrived for her morning chores._

" _Maria…Maria are you here?" She called, but only the silence responded her call._

_She stepped inside the kitchen, while directing her walk toward the pantry. She was eager to meet Maria today, and finally tell Klaus's mother about her reconciliation with her son. But most of all, she was famished! After the night she had passed in her husband's arms, she felt like she had no more energy inside of herself. She blushed at the erotic images coming into her mind, while opening the doors in search of a chocolate spread to put on a slice of bread. She came empty handed, before finally remember that Maria had mentioned to her that there was a food reserve and a cold room in the basement._

_She grabbed the key ring attached to a hook, while storming out of the kitchen. She descended the stairs leading her steps to the cellar, before sliding a few keys inside the lock, before finally finding the right one. She pushed the steel door, while turning the light switch and entering the basement._

_There were two walls filled with expensive bottles, of what seemed to be a wine cellar. Carolina strolled by it, before finally seeing Maria, her back turned to her sight in front of an opened freezer._

" _Here you are, Maria!" She exclaimed, joyfully, while entering the cold room. "I was actually looking for you and a jar of chocolate spread to be honest."_

_The maid remained motionless, with her head leaning forward._

" _Maria, are you ok?" Carolina asked, while suddenly losing her smile._

" _Just… Just go, my child, leave, I'll… I'll see you upstairs; I'll be there in a second…" Maria stammered through her sentence._

" _What is it? Are you sick?" Carolina asked, while reaching the maid's standing position._

" _Please, leave!" Maria begged the young woman to do, while raising her left hand to stop her._

" _No, I won't leave if something is wrong with you?" Carolina replied, before grabbing Maria left shoulder to force the maid to face her._

_Carolina startled, while rapidly stepping away, before hitting the wall behind her back. In front of her, the horrible sight of Maria standing with what seemed to be a blood bag in her hands, with a trickle of the red elixir streaming down her chin._

_A cry echoed in the silence of the morning, loud enough to shack the walls of the manor._

" _Carolina?" Katerina yelled her sister's name, while waking up at the loud scream, before strengthening her upper body in a sitting position on the bed._

* * *

_**Short chapter preface** _

" _Everything is in place?" Ludvig asked his right arm man, while standing in front of his hotel room window, his sight lost in the exterior view of downtown London._

" _ **да**_ _" Alexay replied affirmatively in Russian. "But, is it really necessary to go to such extreme, Ludvig?"_

" _What is this? You're getting soft in your old age, Alexay?" Ludvig chuckled, while gulping his glass of Vodka. "Of course, it's not necessary, but … It's setting a theatrical effect that I quite like." Klaus's biological father replied, smirking. "And it will oblige my son and his family to leave London, which is a step closer in the right direction of my plan." He concluded, shrugging._

" _In this case, I'll give orders to our men to proceed." Alexay nodded respectfully. "But so many dead bodies will attract the attention of the authorities; we'll need to leave London in the next hour of our assault."_

" _Salvage what can be salvaged, shoot to wound, and kill the less civilians possible." Ludvic gave his orders. "The authorities are perfectly aware that we are in town already. Therefore, they probably know that we'll create our own welcoming firework." He grinned. "I always hated this city with all I got in me." He winced, disgusted, before turning on his heels to face Alexay._

" _And what are your orders for the manor?" Alexay inquired._

" _I'll take care of besieging the manor myself; mark my words that I won't leave England without "her"." Ludvig Petrov affirmed; closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body. "We've been apart for too many centuries now."_

* * *

_Katerina ran down the stairs, while reaching the main entrance floor of the manor's entrance. She frantically turned her head in all directions, hearing the second cry of her sister, before rushing toward the stairs leading into the basement._

" _No, no, no … Miss Carolina, I beg of you, please there is no reason to be frightening by me, my child." Maria tried to calm the young woman, before raising her opened palms in front of the young woman, while taking a few steps in her direction. "I … I won't hurt you, I couldn't even think about hurting you."_

" _Please, stay away from me." Carolina begged Maria._

" _What is going on?" Katerina exclaimed, breathless, while reaching the basement and finally the entrance of the cold room._

" _She's … She's drinking blood from a pouch." Carolina stumbled through her sentence, while raising a hand in direction of the maid. "Look… I… I don't know what is happening?"_

" _Oh dear…" Katerina stroked her eyelids, while sighing loudly. "It thought I could delay all of this for you."_

" _Mrs. Katerina, please… It's not what it looks like; I would never hurt your sister." Maria added, nervously, while sweeping with her hand, a trace of blood, left on her bottom lip and cheek._

" _It's exactly what it looks like, Maria." Katerina responded, before pushing the door on its arch. "Carolina, look at me?" She forced her sister to raise her sight, while grabbing her chin. "We need to talk, ok sister; I need to explain some "things" to you that … That most certainly will seem unreal at first, but ..."_

" _What are you saying?" Carolina asked in shock; while shaking her head._

" _How… How do you know?" Maria asked Katerina, while holding herself immobile under the surprise._

" _I've known for a while … I mean…" Katerina closed her eyes, while trying to remain calm. "I've known about your specie for a while, but I was not up to date with the secrecy of your family before last night." She informed her husband's mother, while nodding discreetly in her direction._

" _Oh, I … I don't know what to say." Maria raised her right hand on her forehead._

" _What are you saying, Katerina? What is this? What is happening? Is Maria sick? Is that the reason she is drinking that… I mean blood?" Carolina mumbled, nervously, while grabbing both of her sisters' upper arms._

_Katerina turned her head and sight toward Maria, while taking a last glimpse in direction of the maid, who seemed in deep turmoil over the present event._

" _No, she … She is not sick, Carolina." Katerina confirmed, while shaking her head. "She … She needs blood to stay alive." She stammered through her own confession._

" _What? I don't understand … Like, is she mentally ill?" Carolina tried to wrap her head around her sister say._

" _Oh, it's all my fault, I should have been more careful about "this"." Maria blamed herself, while raising the pouch of blood in her hand, while taking a sitting position on an empty wooden box of wine, before burying her head in her hands._

" _No, she is not sick physically or mentally… She's …" Katerina closed her eyes, while taking a deep breath into her lungs. "She's a vampire, Carolina."_

_Carolina stood motionless and speechless in front of her sister, her sight lost in Katerina's for a short moment, before bursting into nervous laughter._

" _What? Oh my God … You two have put a good one on me, did you?" Carolina pointed in direction of both her sister and the maid, while passing a hand through her short locks. "Don't ever put a stun like this one on me, ever again, it was not funny!"_

" _It's not a joke, Carolina, this is real, sister." Katerina replied, imperturbable, while keeping her sight locked with her sibling's. "Maria?"_

_The maid raised her head, perceiving instinctively Katerina's secret request. She raised the pouch to her mouth, before drinking the remaining blood content, her fangs slowly showing under the strong aphrodisiac of the red elixir._

" _Oh my God…" Carolina exclaimed, while raising her right hand over her trembling lips, tears filling her eyes. "What is happening?"_

_Katerina grabbed both of her sister's upper arms, while trying to maintain her immobile._

" _I know … It makes no sense, and it must be a shock to you…" Katerina empathized, while shaking her head._

" _It makes no sense? This is …. This can't be true! Vampires are a legend … It's a made-up mythology that creates movies in theaters, and series that you watch on television, and books to read." Carolina refused to grasp the reality._

" _No, Carolina, well yes … You'll have all kind of stories about them, but they do exist. I saw my share of them, back in Russia." Katerina confessed, humbly._

" _It's true, Mrs. Carolina, "we" do exist." Maria attested, while rising on her legs._

_The ringing tone of a cellphone made all three women startled under the surprise. Carolina reached for the device in her PJ's pocket, while raising it in her trembling hands._

" _It's… It's Klaus." She managed to let the words out of her mouth._

" _Answer him… Try to act normal." Katerina ordered her sister, while biting her nails, before pacing back and forth in the room._

" _I can't…" Carolina responded, while shaking her head, while biting her bottom lip._

" _Mrs. Carolina, make an effort, your husband will worry sick if you're not answering his call." Maria suggested, hopeful._

" _Hello…" She finally found the strength within herself to answer, while taking a deep breath into her lungs, before taking a few steps back in the room, to find some privacy in a corner._

" _Hi Love, couldn't stop thinking about … About us." Klaus replied, shyly, while straddling his motorcycle, to take a few walking steps in the parking of the Mikaelson's enterprise building._

_Carolina closed her eyes, while raising a hand on her chest, over the raising beats of her heart. The softness of his voice, the way he was calling her "Love", the dizziness he was creating in her head, were in complete battle with the new information she had to swallow._

" _Carolina, are you there?" He asked, worried. "Tell me, what is happening, sweetheart?"_

" _Yah … I'm here." She replied, while trying to get a grip over the spiral of mixed emotions._

" _Did I do something? You need to tell me if I've hurt you in any way." Klaus asked, while swallowing a lump in his throat, before passing a hand through his tangled hair._

" _No, no … I'm just a bit tired, since we have … Well, you know, last night?" She tried to explain under the watchful eyes of both her sister and Maria, while feeling a fire reach her cheeks._

" _You mean last night and this morning." He mocked, a smirk raising the corners of his lips. "I miss you, I want to be with you, I want to hold you in my arms … I want to make love to you all day."_

" _Mm…" She mumbled the sound._

" _You want the same, or did you change your mind?" Klaus asked, while losing his smile and colors._

" _No … I'm just tired and Katerina is in my bedroom." She replied, nervously._

" _Why didn't you say so?" He questioned, relieved. "We'll see each other in a few hours, ok?"_

" _Ok." She replied, while closing the conversation on him._

" _You've reconciled with your husband?" Katerina asked her sister._

" _Does it change anything?" Carolina shrugged._

" _I think it is marvelous news that you found your way into each other's arms. I couldn't' be happier." Maria expressed her joy._

" _Yes, let's all celebrate!" Katerina exploded. "And it's me who put my sister in that situation to start with!"_

" _Oh my God…How… I mean, how is this even possible?" Carolina shook her head, while taking a deep breath._

" _The supernatural world is present on this earth, sister; it's hidden to the majority of its habitants." Katerina tried to explain._

" _How did you found out?" Carolina asked, dumbfounded._

" _The escort industry, I've been asked, several times, to present myself at secret sorority, meetings." Katerina confirmed. "I was blind-folded most of the time, but during the event I would see them drink blood and share … I mean uncommon practices."_

" _Did they hurt you? Oh my God, the series of murders back in Moscow with girls left on the side of the route with two distinct marks on their necks, it was them, was it?" Carolina exclaimed, in shock._

" _Probably…" Katerina agreed, while nodding discreetly. "But Maria is not …"_

" _Are you going to hurt us, Maria? Was it in the plan?" Carolina cut her sister sentence short._

" _What? Oh no, my child … Oh my dear God, never would I lay a hand on you." Maria replied in shock. "You're both my daughters-in-law, I wouldn't drink from the "source", that is why I'm drinking from blood bags, and not from …" Maria tried to articulate her thoughts._

" _You … You are … Therefore …" Carolina stammered her say, while realizing more that her mind could grasp. "Oh my God, is Klaus….Is my husband?" She questioned her sister. "And what about Elijah, is he one also?"_

" _Yes." Katerina confirmed, while closing her eyes._

" _You knew about this and you did not say a word to me?" Caroline exclaimed, angrily, while pointing a finger toward her own chest._

" _No … I mean yes, I knew about the existence of vampires, but I had no idea that they were vampires or that they were the Originals." Katerina swore to her sister._

" _The "what"… What is that even mean?" Carolina busted in anger._

" _They are the first of the line of vampires." Maria explained, while taking a few steps in Carolina's direction. "They are what originated all vampires after their emergence." She added, while nervously rubbing her hands._

" _The first… What… I … What does this even mean?" Carolina tried to wrap her head around all the information thrown at her._

" _They are over a thousand years old." Katerina confessed to her sibling._

" _A thousand years old?" Carolina repeated, with wide opened eyes._

" _You can't explain it to my sister, can you? You don't remember?" Katerina tried to seek help from the maid._

" _No, I'm so sorry." Maria presented her deepest apologies, while bending her head, shamefully. "After my memory lost, I was in a state of denial and I couldn't understand from where those graving for blood were coming from, it's … It's my son Elijah, who … Who explained to me what I had become." She stammered through her short explanation._

" _You have no way of knowing if you were a vampire prior to your memory lost?" Katerina inquired from her._

" _No, I can't assure you this is the truth." Maria confirmed, while shaking her head. "They, Mister Klaus and Mister Elijah, took me under their wings, while reassuring me that I would have a place in their home, and will be nourished with these blood bags." She added, while raising the empty bag in her hands. "Then I became their maid, and that is all I can say to you."_

" _Are you ok?" Katerina asked her sister, while glaring in her direction._

" _I can't even …" Carolina shook her head, before raising her right hand to her forehead. "What is this even means for us, for the future?" She questioned more to herself than her sister._

" _I don't know." Katerina replied, honestly._

" _I… I don't want to put my nose where it doesn't belong, and I can understand that I'd betrayed both of your trust, but "this" new information shouldn't change anything, really." Maria tried to reassure both women. "Both of my sons would never harm you, they are infatuated by both of you…. I … I don't know how to explain, but for what I could guess, I believe they saw in you a part of their past human life."_

" _How did you know about Elijah?" Carolina asked her sister._

" _An empty cup of blood left in his office." Katerina replied, while reprising her pace in the small room, arms crossed over her chest. "He came clean to me during the past night."_

" _Oh it's my fault!" Maria shook her head in disbelief._

" _No, no it's not Maria." Katerina reassured her. "It was "their" obligation to come clean to us. Since we've started our married life, it has been lie after lie." She added, dryly, while clapping both of her hands together_

" _Try to put yourself in their shoes, my child. I'm not agreeing with their methods of actions, far from it, but they had their hearts in the right place." Maria tried to calm Katerina's temper._

" _Why … Why choose human being, if they could be paired with their kind?" Carolina questioned. "What is this even mean … I can't even grasp … I will age, and … I don't understand?" She added, incoherently._

" _They wanted to turn us "eventually"." Katerina confessed, while lowering her sight._

" _What do you mean by "turn us"?" Carolina asked, dumbfounded._

_The unexpected loud sounds of voices and commotion seep into the basement, while cutting their thoughts short. Maria frantically turned her head, while listening more carefully with her vampire hearing abilities._

" _What is happening?" Carolina questioned, while grabbing her sister left forearm._

" _Maria?" Katerina questioned, alerted._

" _We need to get out of the house." Maria warned them, while pushing the two young women in front of her steps._

" _Why? What is happening?" Carolina questioned._

" _The manor is besieged." The maid responded._

* * *

" _Am I driving directly toward the office, Mister Mikaelson?" George, the chauffeur, asked his boss, while lowering the limousine interior security glass, before taking a quick glimpse at his employer through the mirror._

_Elijah raised his head from the newspaper he was holding in his hands, before meeting George's glance in the mirror._

" _Yes, directly to the office." He replied to his chauffeur, while nodding his head discreetly. "Thank you, George."_

" _As you wish, Mister Mikaelson, we are on our way." George confirmed, while raising the black glass up._

_Elijah sighed loudly, while throwing his newspaper on the limousine banquette, before stroking his eyelids. The thought of Katerina couldn't leave his mind, even for a split second. The secret was out, and to this point he had no idea where his marriage to this young human woman would lead him? And it was scarring him more that he would admit to himself. And now, he needed to inform Klaus of the latest development, while knowing that his brother was on shaking reconciliation ground with his own wife._

_He grabbed his cellphone in the interior pocket of his jacket. He needed to verify with Maria if Katerina was handling this "situation" calmly. He rethought his gesture, and replaced the device back in his jacket's pocket._

_But a dark veil was surrounding the Original thoughts … A bad omen infiltrating his mind … A sixth sense announcing upcoming struggle …_

* * *

" _Go away!" Bonnie warned, dryly, while walking in front of the Original's sight, in direction of the main corridor leading her to class._

" _Oh come on Darling, it's a new day, we could start it on good terms, would you like that?" Kol asked all smile and hopeful._

" _No, I wouldn't!" She replied, while pushing a door, before slamming it back on his nose._

" _Damn it!" Kol growled, while pushing the door to follow the young woman in her path. "You know, Bonnie, your anger can only push me further in your direction?"_

" _Hoping you'll get lost on your way to hell then?" She responded, dryly, while rolling her eyes to the ceiling._

" _Now that is not nice, not nice at all! Where are you going?" He asked._

" _Cafeteria, why, do I need your approbation to come and go at my will?" She replied, while entering the large room filled with students._

" _You're such a happy rainbow in early morning, aren't you my darling?" Kol winced._

" _It's nothing that a strong coffee couldn't cure, even in your presence." She replied, tit for tat._

" _Ok, I'll bite sunshine; and when I say I'll bite; I mean it as a figure of speech." He winked at her. "You hate me in another new level today, what's up?" He questioned, while grabbing a paper cup to fill it with coffee._

_Bonnie closed her eyes, before turning on her heels to face the hybrid, her fiery sight suddenly drown in his._

" _You compelled me, yesterday; how do you want me to feel?" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth, before taking her place in line, coffee in hands, in front of the cashier._

_Kol stood motionless and speechless, while staring at the back of the gorgeous metis girl._

" _Hey punk, are you in line or what?" A student startled the Original, who took an extra-step toward the long line._

" _What did you just say?" He whispered in Bonnie's right ear, while leaning his head near hers._

" _Pretentious, pompous and deaf, what other qualities do you have?" She replied, slyly._

_Kol suddenly looked up, all his vampire senses in alert, before noticing a group of men entering suspiciously inside the cafeteria. In the time space of a few seconds, they reached for their weapons underneath their camouflage coats, before opening their fire on the present crowd._

" _Get down now!" He yelled, before pushing Bonnie on the floor, with the length of his muscular body lying on hers, under the loud cries of the students and the sound of the firing weapons._

* * *

" _Kol, pick up, damn it … Pick up!" Elijah mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _No answer, boss?" George inquired._

" _No, nothing, fuck!" Elijah stroked his eyelids._

_George arched both of his eyebrows, in surprise, while staring with opened eyes at the Original in the mirror._

" _I have my moment." Elijah sighed and shrugged, impatient. "What about the drive back home?" He inquired, being suddenly projected on the opposite side of his present sitting position on the banquet. The sudden speed of the limousine on the highway should answer his question._

" _Considering that we are presently driving on the sidewalk, in the middle of a traffic jam, I'm praying that we won't be shadowed by the police." George replied, while pushing his foot at the maximum of the gas pedal, his right hand on the horn to warn the passerby._

" _Where the hell were you?" Elijah exclaimed in the device, after re-dialing Kol's number._

" _Oh you know me, brother." Kol responded, hoarsely, over the loud commotion. "I'm always trying to find trouble, though this time trouble found me!" He added, while pulling Bonnie in his arms, both placed behind one of the refrigerator, as safety precaution. "Not a real good time to chit-chat though, considering I am in the middle of a shooting."_

" _Fuck!" Elijah swore, once more, while passing a hand though his tangled hair. "Ludvig's men I suppose?"_

" _My guess as well." Kol replied. "He's setting his territory in a theatrical kind of way, I suppose?" He added. "I can recognized a lot of Klaus in his biological father, where are you?"_

" _On my way back to the manor I have a bad feeling as for Maria and the girl's safety." Elijah's head suddenly hit the front glass in front of his sight._

" _Sorry Boss!" George apologized for his speedy drive._

" _Oh my God…" Bonnie exclaimed, while seeing a body fall into its death in front of both of their sights, before cowering herself in Kol's arms._

" _Listen brother, nice to catch up but I'm kind of in a jam at the moment, and I fear it's time to get out of here." Kol growled; loudly, at the firing sound._

" _Go directly to the airport." Elijah closed his device, while nervously passing his right hand over his face._

" _We are almost there, boss." George informed the Original. "I've taken a short cut."_

" _You took a short cut in the middle of the National Park?" Elijah noticed, in shock._

" _I've never said it was legal." The chauffeur shrugged, while pushing his foot further on the gas pedal._

" _Remind me to give you a raise, George." Elijah let a smile spread on his lips._

" _It's duly noted, boss!" The chauffeur replied, sarcastically._

* * *

" _Oh for God sake, are you going to follow me everywhere?!" Rebekah exclaimed, while taking a glimpse at Stefan's reflection in the store window._

" _It's merely a coincidence that I was passing by you, inside this shopping center mall, at this hour, Rebekah, get a grip of yourself, you're not that important to me." Stefan shoved his hands in his jeans' pockets, while rolling his eyes._

" _So if this is true, let see what is around here that could be of interest to you, should we?" Rebekah grinned, while taking a glimpse at the few stores at sight. "Oh, wait… There's a lingerie boutique? Do not tell me that your Drag Queen personality is making a comeback again?" She asked; triumphant._

" _Go to hell, Rebekah!" Stefan growled, with annoyance._

" _Or there's also the nails Saloon, are you due for you manicure, Steffie?" She smiled all teeth._

" _What color would you suggest?" Stefan winced._

" _Light pink, it will bring your eyes." She responded, playful; while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Now if you don't mind, whoosh and go away!" She ordered him, before turning on her heels, while facing the closed door of the jewelleries store. She raised the left sleeve of her white leather jacket while taking a quick glimpse at her watch; ten more minutes and the store would open._

" _You're stalking the opening hours of the boutiques now, Rebekah, how human of you?" Stefan noticed, while smirking and leaning the left side of his body on the window._

" _Not that it is any of your business, but I've ordered a diamond bracelet, and I'm picking it up this morning." She sighed loudly._

" _Oh but I knew the superficial "Rebekah" was hiding somewhere, underneath this all: "I'm waiting for the store to open"; your glamorous self finally showed the tip of her nose." He smirked._

" _Go screw yourself, Salvatore!" She replied, dryly._

" _It will be with pleasure, Rebekah." Stefan smirked, before turning his sight toward the entrance of the mall. A few of passers, where strolling in front of the closed boutiques, some were sipping coffee at a near stand, but what suddenly attract his sight, was the group of men who pushed the swinging doors, dressed with camouflage vests, while slowly pulling weapons from underneath their clothes._

" _Get down!" Stefan yelled to the near crowd, while grabbing Rebekah left wrist to pull her into safety, before hearing gun shots everywhere._

" _What the hell is happening?" Rebekah exclaimed, while being pushed behind a marble column as a protection measure._

" _They are Ludvig Petrov's men." Stefan replied, while grabbing his cellphone in his jacket's pocket. "Don't move; we need to stay put."_

" _What? Why would he want to attack civilians?" She questioned, dumbfounded, under the loud cries, and shot gun noise._

" _He's making a distraction for our benefit." Stefan replied, while pushing the dial button on the device. "Where are you?" He asked his interlocutor._

" _I'm on my Harley, in direction of the manor." Klaus mumbled, angrily, in his cellphone._

" _Well, I'm with your sister, and we're reliving the last Rambo sequel at the moment." Stefan explained, while covering Rebekah's body of his._

" _Fuck! Kol was at the school and the same event happened, Elijah just confirmed it to me." Klaus replied. "Get out of my fucking way!" The Original yelled at the passersby who were trying to avoid the motorcycle on the sidewalk._

" _Try to not kill innocents, would you?" Stefan warned the hybrid._

" _What do you think? It's my specialty." Klaus replied, cynically. "I was gullible enough to believe that my biological father would not retaliate on us." He added. "Mate, I … I can't… Carolina, her sister, and my mothers are in the mansion."_

" _I know…" Stefan nodded, while lowering his head and closing his eyes._

" _Take care of Bekah, ok? We'll meet at the airport." Klaus cut the conversation short._

" _That mad man is going to attack the manor and mother, isn't he?" Rebekah asked, tears filling her eyes._

" _We can't think about that now, Rebekah, we need to escape this mall from hell, and heading toward the airport." He explained, before interlacing his fingers with hers. "Are you ready to make a run for it?"_

" _Yes." She nodded._

" _I'm sorry, but you won't get your diamond bracelet today, princess." He added, before racing in his vampire speed, with the blonde vampire by his side, toward the nearest possible exit._

* * *

_Maria reached the first main level of the manor, while keeping Carolina and Katerina behind her back. She could clearly hear the battle between the guards and the assailants. Her main goal was to find a way to reach an exit to help the girls escape, but she was running out of time._

_She pointed, to both women, toward the main corridor leading to the kitchen, and they nodded in agreement of her silent plan._

_Unfortunately the moment Maria rushed toward an assailant; another group of men came from the said corridor._

" _Go upstairs, now!" She yelled to both women, before pushing one of the men on the wall, while using her vampire strength._

" _We can't leave her behind?" Carolina begged her sister, while climbing a few stairs._

" _We have to listen to her, come." Katerina pulled her sister; while grabbing her left hand._

_Maria managed to battle the assailants for a few more minutes, but their strength was way superior of hers._

" _Don't touch her!" She finally heard a voice yell the order to the intruders, before raising her sight toward the imposing man._

_He was tall, with a muscular silhouette, dark brown hair and eyes. Maria remained motionless, not able to detach her gaze from his aura of power._

" _Ingrid, my love, finally we meet again?" The man exclaimed, amorously, a smile spreading on his lips._

" _Get out of this house, whoever you are, you are not welcome!" She warned him, firmly._

" _Bring the witch." Ludvig ordered one of his men, with a gesture of his right hand._

_A petite woman, with black hair appeared by his side._

" _This is for your own good, моя любовь (my love), and it will only last for a few seconds." He presented his apologies to Maria._

_Maria found herself lying on the floor a few seconds later, her hands placed on each side of her head, left under the intense pain of a strong aneurism, before losing her consciousness._

" _I'm so sorry, Ingrid." Ludvig repeated, while kneeling by her side, before raising the maid in his arms. "Bring one of the cars upfront, now! And find the other ones." He ordered, firmly, with a strong voice._

* * *

" _Oh my God, what are we supposed to do?" Carolina asked her sister, while running behind her back, before suddenly feeling two strong arms grabbing her waist by behind, with a hand covering her mouth, under her loud cry of surprise._

" _Shush, it's me, don't panic." Klaus whispered near his wife right ear._

" _Oh my God, are you crazy you almost gave us a heart attack?" Katerina busted, while turning on her heels to face both Klaus and her sister._

" _No time to chit chat sister-in-law, quick, in the bedroom!" He ordered, while pushing both women inside one of the upstairs guest bedrooms. "Get under the bed now!" He pushed Katerina, while pulling Carolina in one of the closet, before closing the wooden door behind both of their backs._

' _Shush, calm down, Love." He whispered to his wife, while pushing one of his fingers on her trembling lips. "Don't be scare, I'm with you both."_

_It did not take long for Ludvig's men to enter the bedroom, while scattering rapidly the interior. Katerina stood motionless underneath the bed, with a hand placed over her lips to hold her cries._

" _Can I help you with something, gentlemen?" Both men heard a man address himself to them._

" _Who are you?" They both asked, simultaneously; while turning their sights toward the intruder._

" _Please, forgive my bad manners; the name is Elijah … Elijah Mikaelson." He presented himself, all smile, while reaching their standing positions, before burying both of his closed fists in their thoraxes to pull both of their hearts out._

" _Oh my God…" Katerina let the words out of her mouth, while seeing the hearts fall on the white carpet._

" _Katerina, get out from underneath the bed, now!" Elijah ordered her to do, while rapidly wiping his bloody hands with a handkerchief, before helping her out._

_The door of the closet opened over Klaus and Carolina._

" _Oh my God, what happened to my sister?" Katerina exclaimed, in shock._

" _Nothing, she lost consciousness." Klaus replied, before raising the young woman in his arms._

" _We have to leave, now!" Elijah ordered, while grabbing his wife's right hand in his, before reaching the upstairs' main corridor._

* * *

" _What happened to Carolina?" Kol asked Klaus, while getting out of his jeep, with Bonnie close on his heels, before directing his walking steeps toward the airplane._

_The youngest of the Originals men had raced toward the small private airport, with Bonnie sitting in a state of shock and total silence by his side, before reaching the landing strip, near Elijah's limousine._

" _She's ok." Klaus reassured his youngest brother, while carrying his wife in his arms. "She just fainted… Who the hell are you?"_

" _Bonnie Bennett." She replied, dryly. "It's not like a bit of courtesy could kill you?" She added, while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _You have to forgive my brother and his bad manners, his nerves are all over the place, Miss Bennett." Elijah intercepted Bonnie, while walking by her side._

" _You're one of my sister's friends, aren't you?" Katerina asked, while reaching her husband side. "I'm Katerina, Carolina's sister."_

" _Yes, I am … We share some art courses at school." Bonnie nodded, respectfully, with a small smile blessing her lips._

" _Why did you take her along with you, Kol?" Elijah asked his brother, calmly, to not scare the human girl._

" _She was targeted as I was, don't ask me why, but my guess is probably because she was Carolina's friend?" Kol shrugged his shoulders._

" _Miss Bennett, do you have family in London?" Elijah asked._

" _Why are you asking me that question?" Bonnie wondered._

" _Answer me, please?" Elijah pushed the note._

" _No, I'm a foreign student; I'm alone in London… I mean, I don't have family." Bonnie stammered, while shaking her head._

" _Perfect! You're about to join us on a little trip for your own safety, my dear." Elijah informed her._

" _What, no? I have obligations and …" Bonnie tried to object. "Is he joking?" She questioned Kol._

" _Doubtful, my oldest brother never jokes." Kol smirked._

" _Took you long enough, Salvatore?" Klaus yelled to both his friend and sister, who were rushing toward their walking path._

" _Hey! Close your mouth Mikaelson, we were in the middle of an action movie, packed with a lot of Cowboys shooting at us." Stefan replied, mockingly, while reaching the walking group._

" _What's the status?" Stefan asked, while glancing rapidly at both of the Russian brides. He could notice two safe over three, but where was Maria?_

" _Where's mother?" Rebekah asked, frantically._

" _I thought she was inside the plane already?" Kol added, dumbfounded._

" _No." Elijah shook his head, while frowning._

" _What; please tell me this asshole is not retaining our mother against her will?" Rebekah panicked._

" _Rebekah, control yourself." Elijah warned his sister._

" _He won't touch her, Bekah; he has feelings for our mother." Klaus added._

_They reached the ramp, before claiming the stairs and entering the airplane._

_Bonnie grabbed Kol's left arm, while retaining him on his climbing._

" _I can't follow you in this plane?" She shook her head._

" _Not a problem, darling; I can easily carry you in my arms or on my shoulder, as you wish?" Kol replied, uncompromisingly. "This is not a drill, Bonnie, this is real… you're in danger."_

" _Ok, I'll follow you, but just because I know Carolina; and I don't want to leave her alone in this." She replied, while passing by his side to climb the stairs._

" _Don't think I have forgotten about the compulsion thing." He whispered near Bonnie's right ear, while grabbing her upper arm to bring her in close contact, before letting her go._

_They all entered the plane, in a row, before raising, with stupefaction, their sights on a man who was sitting in one of the comfortable leather seats._

" _Well, it's about time you all arrived; I was bored to death with my lonesome!" Mikael Mikaelson exclaimed, all smile; while throwing the newspaper that he was holding in his hands on the seat by his side. "Is it possible to have a glass of champagne on this plane?"_

* * *

" _What the fuck are you doing on this plane, father?" Elijah demanded an explanation._

" _Well, I figure we were travelling toward the same destination, therefore; I could certainly accompany you." Mikael shrugged, a devilish smile blessing his lips. "I have to say that I'm kind of disappointed at the slow pace you figured everything out about Ludvig Petrov… And now I suppose your mother has been kidnapped by her past lover? How romantic and tragic at the same time, would you say?"_

" _I'll bring Carolina in the bedroom in the back." Klaus informed his brother, while carrying the frail silhouette in his arms. "Get rid of this piece of shit!" He mumbled, angrily, in his teeth, while passing beside Mikael's sitting position._

" _It's nice to see you too, illegitimate son." Mikael grinned._

" _Get your fucking ass out of this plane!" Kol busted at his father._

" _Kol, what you've gained in bravery, you'd lost in intelligence." Mikael replied, while rolling his eyes, before crossing his arms in front of his chest._

" _He's not worth it, Kol." Rebekah murmured to her brother._

" _Nice to see you too, Rebekah, you are looking more and more like your mother." Mikael noticed._

" _I take that as a compliment." She replied, tit for tat, dryly. "I prefer to be her spitting image than yours!"_

" _I'll go see if my sister is ok?" Katerina whispered near her husband's left ear._

" _Ok." Elijah nodded his head to his wife. "We'll talk later, don't worry I'll take care of this."_

" _Well, don't leave on my behalf, my dear daughter-in-law." Mikael smirked._

" _I'll prefer to enter a knife in my chest than endure your sight." Katerina replied, dryly, while directing her walk toward the back of the plane._

" _You did not educate your wife to obey you properly, son, I'm kind of disappointed." Mikael added, while rising on his legs._

" _It's "my" wife, my business, certainly not yours!" Elijah replied, hoarsely. "Now get out of my plane."_

" _Is there a problem, boss?" George asked, while coming out of the front cockpit._

" _No, I don't believe there will be any." Elijah replied, while narrowing his sight on Mikael._

" _Fine, I'll leave." Mikael replied, while strolling through the middle aisle to reach the exit._

" _Not a minute too soon." Kol mumbled, angrily between his teeth, while seeing his father passed the arch porthole door of the plane._

* * *

" _You're going to be ok, you'll be fine." Klaus murmured the words, while gently dropping Caroline's body on the bedspread of the small bedroom located at the far end of the plane._

_He delicately placed her head on the pillow, while sliding a few of her short locks behind her ears._

" _Oh Carolina what have I done to you?" He confessed, while grabbing her cold hands in his. "I've broken in pieces the best thing that had ever happened to me… You are my life now, love." He stifled through his words, while feeling a single tear rolling on his cheek._

" _Is this even remotely true?" He heard Katerina's voice asked him._

_Klaus closed his eyes a fraction of second to regain his strength, before turning his sight toward Carolina's sister._

" _Contrary to what you could believe, I only want the best for her." He responded, toneless._

" _You did not give me any reasons to trust you before, Klaus." She replied, dryly._

" _I know." Klaus replied, shameful, while lowering his head. "I just want her safe, and then will come the day that she'll want to be free of me, and I'll offer her that freedom the day she'll ask for it."_

" _I doubt that." Katerina replied, while reaching his sitting position on the bed._

" _I give you my words." Klaus reaffirmed._

" _No, you I believe, as for my sister … I doubt she will ever want to leave you." Katerina confessed. "Or she would have done it already, even more after what she learned today."_

_Klaus raised his sight in Katerina's, while arching one of his eyebrows._

" _She knows doesn't she?" He replied, an emptiness filling his eyes and heart._

" _Yes, she knows about you and your family being vampires." She nodded._

" _And yet, you're still standing by my brother's side, Katerina; after learning the truth yourself?" He asked, surprised._

" _Let just say that the past few hours did not gave me the time to think about it." She replied, slyly, while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _You don't think, Katerina, you're a woman of action." He stipulated the truth._

" _Well, we are still married to the both of you for the better or the worst; I guess we've reached the worst." She shrugged, while leading her steps toward the exit of the small room._

" _Katerina?" He called the young Russian._

" _Yes?" She replied, while turning her head and sight toward his position._

" _Thank you." He nodded._

" _Don't thank me, I don't know what my sister will decide when she'll wake up, but she is a fighter, as I am." She replied, before stepping out._

* * *

_The plane took off thirty minutes later, under the death silence of its occupants._

" _You're shaking, you're cold?" Elijah noticed, while undressing of his jacket, before covering the shoulders of his wife._

" _Thank you." She nodded, thankful, while raising her sight in her husband's brown dark eyes. "I wasn't aware that your chauffeur was a pilot? Is it something vampires have in common, multi-careers?"_

_Elijah let out a small laugh, redness reaching his cheek._

" _You can say that, let just say that I try to have a staff that can protect "us" in all time and all ways." He explained, evasively._

" _I see." Katerina replied, toneless._

" _I thought …" He started, before cutting his say, left under a range of intense emotions. "The thought of losing you left me empty inside. I should have known better, I should have known that the manor was not secured enough to this point, please forgive me, Katerina?" He begged, while grabbing her left hand in his, before interlacing his fingers with hers._

" _You did a lot of wrongs to me, Elijah, but this is not one of them." She replied, while slowly pulling her hand away from his. "But the actions of an enemy are not your fault. Your mother has been kidnapped; and I don't think it's the time for us to discuss our marriage." She added, while turning her head toward the porthole._

* * *

" _You're ok?" Stefan asked Rebekah._

_She turned her head toward the young vampire, while forcing herself to smile._

" _Yes, thank you." She replied, while nodding her head. "Well, it has been a hell of a morning, would you say?" She tried to be strong, while joking around on the subject._

" _You don't need to be act fearless all the time in my presence, Rebekah, I know you better than this act you're trying to pull." He replied, while raising his right hand to caress her cheeks._

" _I was scare, so scare; Stefan … And I'm still scare for Maria, for our mother." She confessed in a low murmur, tears filling her eyes._

" _We'll find her, I promise." He replied, before softly kissing her forehead._

* * *

" _Where am I?" Carolina muttered, slowly reopening her eyes, before straightening her upper body to scatter the room for clues, while suddenly noticing her husband's presence at her side._

" _In a plane, we had to leave the manor behind." Klaus replied, while softly pushing her back on the pillow. "You need to rest, you fainted, Love."_

" _I don't remember … Oh yes, the men who attacked the manor, and Maria, where … Where is she?" She stammered, while suddenly sitting on the bed. "Oh my God… I remember now, you came back and …" She pointed a finger toward her husband. "You've lied to me... I mean about your true identity, what you really are, haven't you?" She managed to add, in an incoherent speech. "You're a vampire?"_

_Klaus nodded his head in affirmative, while avoiding her sight and swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _Why?" She busted, in anger, while passing a hand through her hair. "It's not like you and your brother could hide this fact from us forever?"_

" _Carolina, don't … Don't put the blame on my brother, I'm entirely responsible for this entire situation, for putting your own life and the life of your sister in danger." He raised a hand in front of her sight._

" _Why would you want a human by your side, Klaus? Why would you want me of all people? Is it a sick game … Maria thought that you would never hurt me or change who I am." She tried to explain through her confused mind._

" _Maria knew about this?" He asked, surprised._

" _Yes…" She nodded._

" _The phone conversation, she was there with your sister, few minutes before the attack, am I right?" He realized, while pacing back and forth in the small room. "Damn it!" He lashed out, while hitting a wall with his closed right fist._

_Carolina startled over the release of her husband emotions, while bringing her knees nearer to her chest._

" _No, no … Don't be scare; I wouldn't hurt you, sweetheart." Klaus reassured her, while approaching the bed._

" _I don't know what to think anymore? Where are my sister and Maria?" She asked the truth from him._

" _Your sister is in the front cabin of the plane with my brother." He reassured her. "We are bringing you both to safety."_

" _Maria?" She asked, fearful of his answer._

" _She's been kidnapped." He replied, openly, while drowning his sight in hers._

" _Oh my God… This can't be happening." She shook her head in denial. "I need time to … To cope with all of this." She added, while sweeping the tears that was rolling on her cheeks. "Give me time."_

" _Ok, I won't push you." Klaus agreed, repentant. "But I won't leave your sight ever again." He confessed, while sitting on a near cabin chair, placed near the bed._

* * *

_Elijah entered the plane cockpit while reaching the pilot and co-pilot positions._

" _What will be the destination, boss?" George inquired the information._

" _Italy, Milan." Elijah informed._

" _We are on our way then." George nodded, respectfully._

" _Thank you." Elijah replied, while turning on his heels to regain his sitting position in the main cabin._

" _Where are we heading, brother dearest?" Kol mocked, while throwing peanuts in his mouth._

" _Italy, Milan." Elijah replied, under the shocked expression of Bonnie._

" _I can't go to Italy!" She whispered, angrily, in Kol's right ear. "I knew the minute I lay my eyes on you that you would bring me nothing but trouble" Bonnie pointed a finger toward his chest._

" _Here darling, eat some peanuts that should calm your present tantrum; and hopefully bring peace to my poor ears." He replied to the young woman, before throwing a small bag on her lap. "Now I suggest that you take a nap, it will be a long flight." He closed his eyes, a smile raising both corners of his lips, under her continuous and insistent bubbling of disapprobation._

 


	19. Your true colors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story; that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

_**Russian – Moscow; Ludvig's manor** _

" _She has become an insufferable shrew!" Alexay complained out loud, while entering the parlor room, before directing his walking path toward the fire mantle. He nodded his head respectfully in front of his mentor, Ludvig Petrov._

" _I recognize the fiery spirit of my Ingrid." Ludvig commented; while pouring himself a glass of vodka. "What is she complaining about; I hope that all of her needs are met?"_

" _Yes." Alexay confirmed. "She's been retained in the Presidential Suite, like you've asked; but she refuses to nourish herself, dress with the clothes I brought to her, and she's yelling from the top of her lungs that she wants to be released."_

" _I was expecting such restrain from her part." Ludvig replied, a smirk raising both sides of his lips. "I had hoped to delay our first meeting to an ulterior moment; but as I can hear from your mouth; I'll need to meet with her sooner than expected."_

" _It would be preferable." Alexay agreed; while nodding his head; politely. "You've instructed us to not hurt her, but …"_

" _No but! One of my men raises his hands on my Ingrid, and he'll have to answer back to me with his death, am I clear?" Ludvig mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, before taking a step toward Alexay, while pointing a finger to the man's chest._

" _да!" Alexay responded affirmatively in Russian; while lowering his head and sight._

" _Is there any news on their location?" Ludvig inquired, raised chin._

" _Not at the moment, they left London in a plane, but we are not sure of their present location as of now… They are somewhere in Europe, that is for sure." Alexay informed._

" _Well, that is exactly where I wanted them to be." Ludvig confirmed; proudly. "And, is there any news on my informer's emplacement?"_

" _Paris." Alexay replied to his employer._

" _Well, not for long, bring him in Moscow in the next hours." Petrov gave his order._

" _I'll send our men on his tail, right away; as you wish." Alexay made a reverence; before retracing his steps toward the exit of the room._

" _Alexay!" Ludvig called; authoritarian._

" _Yes?" The called man asked; while turning his head._

" _Ask the chef to prepare a real feast; bring it afterward in Ingrid's quarter." He added as an order. "I have a date with the love of my life." Ludvig concluded; a smile plastered on his lips._

* * *

_George marched in front of the group, holding a torch in his right hand, while directing his walking path into the underground tunnels leading them all toward the Italian Mansion, located at mountainside, near the city of Milan._

" _The foundations are solid as the rock, boss." He mentioned; while sliding his hands on the tunnels' walls. "Not even a scratch over the centuries."_

" _These tunnels were built to last through time and under extreme conditions." Elijah replied, while following George's steps, before lowering his head to avoid the roughness of the stone. "Watch your steps and head beautiful?" He warned, while turning his sight toward his wife._

" _I am watching my steps." Katerina replied, politely; while catching her husband's glance for a few seconds; before lowering her sight on the ground._

_Elijah nodded politely; while wincing at his wife obvious indifference and coldness; with a sharp pain hitting his chest of its poisoned imply. His heart had obviously fallen hard for this fiery temperament Russian woman, and now he could not imagine his life without her._

" _If I may bring the obvious, even to a blind; aren't you, strange people, entering your home by the front door?" Bonnie asked, while following the procession._

" _I choose to believe, Miss Bennett; that this strolling inside these underground tunnels is somehow pleasing your artistic spirit?" Elijah replied, teaser._

" _Well, I've seen the largest cobweb in front of my nose, the size of the state of Texas; I'm sure it could get handy in my next drawing assignment as for unanimated object goes, of course." Bonnie replied, dryly._

" _Your new friend is a fascinating young woman; Carolina." Elijah added, a smile raising the corners of his lips._

" _Is it a polite way to say that I'm peculiar?" Bonnie inquired, while sighing loudly._

" _I'm so sorry to have dragged you into this, Bonnie." Carolina whispered to the young American; while presenting her deepest apologies. "Believe me, I … I mean, I didn't know this would happen."_

" _Don't worry; it beats a boring evening in my rented bedroom, at eating pizza, while holding a beer in my hand." Bonnie winked at Carolina, before returning her focus on the uneven ground._

" _What Bonnie is too shy to express is that my presence bring such joy to her heart." Kol teased; while lowering his sight on the young woman's bottom._

" _Your presence I couldn't care less about; but your eyes … Stop lurking at my behind, and there's maybe a chance that I could be civil with you!" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _Says the woman who jumped into my arms the minute she thought she was in danger." Kol replied, tit for tat, while smirking._

" _Well, considering that your charming family was the reason I was stuck in that particular predicament in the first place, find yourself lucky that I'm actually acknowledging your presence at the moment." She sighed loudly._

" _Isn't she a breath of fresh air in this confined tunnel?" Kol shrugged, happily._

_Bonnie rolled her eyes in annoyance, while sliding her right foot on a slippery rock. She suddenly lost her balance and equilibrium, before finding herself in Kol's arms a second later._

' _I got you." He whispered near Bonnie's left ear; while pulling her shivering body on his muscular chest, his arms firmly encircling her waist._

" _I'm ok, thanks… I… I've just lost my balance on a slippery rock." She stammered through her reply; while pushing herself away from his embrace._

" _You were saying about finding safety in my arms, darling?" Kol winked, while placing himself in front of her path. "Follow my steps; I know these tunnels by heart."_

" _If you would take time to take off your high heels shoes, the walk would get way easier." Stefan mocked, while watching Rebekah twist her ankles on almost every step she took._

" _These are Louboutin shoes; so butt out and mind your own business Salvatore." She growled. "I've always hated those tunnels; you need to be Indiana Jones to walk through them."_

" _Or you simply need to wear regular shoes." Stefan replied, while shrugging in indifference._

_The acute sound of a heel breaking on the pressure was suddenly heard in both of Stefan's and Rebekah's ears._

" _Oh no, these are my favorite pair of shoes!" Rebekah complained, while grabbing the said broken shoe and its missing part in her hands._

" _Give me the other shoe?" Stefan suggested._

" _Why?" Rebekah asked, hopeful, while handing to the young vampire the unbroken shoe._

_Stefan broke the other heel, before throwing the broken piece, in the tunnel, behind his back; while handing the shoe to the blonde Original._

" _Here you go!" He smirked. "Now you have a brand new pair of flat shoes." He mocked, while strolling by Rebekah's side._

" _You're an ass, Salvatore!" She mumbled, angrily; between her teeth. "You must know that about yourself, right?" She added, furiously; while sliding her feet in both of the broken heels shoes._

" _I'm an "ass" who just magically gave you a brand new pair of Louboutin ballerina shoes." He teased, while lowering his head to retain his urge to burst into laughter._

" _I swear Salvatore; you'll pay for a new pair!" She exclaimed, in fury; while throwing the remaining heel at his head._

" _Hey, it's you who broke the first one; buy a new pair yourself." He busted into laughter._

_Carolina retained a small cry; while being pulled on the side of the tunnel; with a firm arm wrapped around her waist, and a hand placed over her lips._

" _Shush, it's me; Love … Let them take the lead … I just…" Klaus stammered through his explanation, while releasing his grip on his wife. "I needed … I mean … I was just wondering how you were … I mean; how you were handling everything?" He swallowed a lump in his throat, repentant._

" _Other than being chased and attacked in_ **our** _home in England; taking a plane to Italy, and strolling through secret underground tunnels you mean?" Carolina turned around to face her husband; heart pounding loudly in her chest._

" _Inter alia … But, more so learning about …" He added, while raising his blue sight in his wife's… She had said "their" home … Theirs… His and hers … He thought with a glimpse of hope infiltrating his heart._

" _You mean learning about my husband's true colors as a vampire." She questioned, while crossing her arms in front of trembling body._

" _Yah… I guess I mean that." He nodded, while lowering his head and sight, shameful._

" _I'm still processing." She shrugged. "I … I still see you as my "human" husband as of now…Even if I know that it's a shimmer of a lie." She added._

" _I'm sorry …" Klaus shook his head. "I'm so sorry about everything."_

" _It's not your fault if Maria was kidnapped and we were attacked... You couldn't have known about all of this." She replied, truthfully; a glimpse of a smile appearing on her lips._

" _You're hurt?" He noticed; while grabbing Carolina's left forearm, a trail of blood running from the inside skin to her wrist._

" _It's just a scratch, nothing to worry about, really." She replied, while shaking her head._

" _Let me be the judge of that would you?" Klaus took a look at the opened cut._

" _I … I've scratched my wrist on the tunnel wall, that is why there's blood." She shrugged, while explaining her say._

" _There's a perk at having a vampire husband, you know?" He informed her, while slowly bringing her wrist near his lips._

" _What … What are you doing?" Carolina asked with a trembling voice._

" _Helping you heal." Klaus replied, softly, while covering the wound with his mouth, before closing his eyes and slowly sucking up the excess of blood, before passing the length of his tongue to cicatrize the wound. Her blood tasted like cinnamon; with a hint of jasmine, and an all lot of heaven._

_Carolina stumbled, while taking an extra step to stand by her husband side; a warm dizziness taking her by surprise; with a range of intense shivers hitting her spine all at once. She slowly closed her eyes; left under the most erotic pleasure she had ever experienced in her short life._

" _Carolina?" She heard the soft whisper of her husband's voice, before slowly raising her trembling eyelashes to meet Klaus's glance. "You're healed now." He informed her, softly._

" _What… Oh, ok … Thank you." Carolina stammered her thanks; while slowly pulling her wrist near her chest, before taking a look at the cut. "It's all gone?" She noticed, with amazement._

" _Yah, it is." Klaus nodded. "We should go now; you're shivering like a leaf; are you cold?" He suddenly noticed._

" _I'm exhausted." She nodded. "When I'm tired, I shiver this way."_

" _Follow my path, we're almost there." Klaus lead the way, with his wife on his heels._

* * *

" _We made it!" George informed, while pushing a steel door, before being greeted by a few men guarding the underground entrance of the manor._

" _Enter!" Elijah invited his siblings and companions, while promptly grabbing Katerina's hand, to pull her aside. "Wait by my side for a few seconds." He murmured to his wife as an order._

" _Do I have to bow and say:_ **yes master** _?" Katerina asked, dryly._

" _Yes wife; that would be music to my ears." Elijah teased, while nodding at Stefan, the last one in line, to enter inside the underground of the manor. "Go upstairs; we'll be there in a short while."_

" _Ok." Stefan nodded, before passing the threshold, and climbing the stairs._

" _Where is my sister?" Katerina wondered, in panic; before taking a few steps forward; while scattering the tunnel._

" _They'll be here soon; Klaus knows these underground tunnels by heart." Elijah informed, while taking a few steps to approached his wife standing position, before slowly sliding both of his hands on each side of her waist, his chin resting on top of her head._

" _You're avoiding me, Katerina?" Elijah murmured, softly; while closing his eyes and swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _How am I doing so, Elijah? I thought I was acting like the perfect wife?" Katerina responded, while her heart skipped a beat… He was standing in a too close proximity of her vital organ. "I've been following each of your steps since we left London?"_

" _Physically, you're by my side, but your heart and soul are completely close to me." Elijah replied, while sighing loudly._

" _I'm sorry … I had a lot to take-in the past twenty-four hours." Katerina replied, while closing her eyes, left under the strong aura of her husband's presence._

" _We'll drift apart if we are not careful and honest with each other." Elijah commented, while sliding his hands around her waist. "I don't want to lose you; Katerina." He confessed, honestly._

" _I need time, Elijah." She whispered, breathless. "I need to wrap my head over the fact that my sister and I are married to vampires."_

" _Is it so different now; are "we" so different than before?" He inquired, while burying his head in the hollow of her left shoulder, the soft touch of his lips softly brushing the skin of her neck._

" _Yes, it is … And you know it." She murmured, truthfully. "You have shown me your true colors; I just need to adapt my vision to this new reality."_

" _No … It's not different… And you did not even begin to see my true colors." Elijah whispered, while nibbling on Katerina's earlobe. "I can hear the beats of you heart rising dangerously when I am at nearly a foot of distance from you."_

" _It's caused by fear." The young Russian lied through her teeth._

" _Liar" Elijah smiled at her say, before lowering his head to leave a trail of kisses on the graceful curve of her neck. "It's a burning desire that can only be eased by me, and you know it."_

" _It's not my desire for you that worries me, Elijah; it's way more your desire for me; and how you will react under your uncontrollable passion in the future." Katerina replied._

_Elijah raised his head; while all his muscles tensed over her say, before slowly pushing himself at arm length of distance from his wife standing position._

" _I'm sorry that you feel this way. We should enter inside now, my brother and your sister will follow soon enough." He invited Katerina, with a hand gesture, before seeing her passed the threshold in front of his sight._

* * *

" _I've checked the premises around the manor, it is safe." George informed Elijah, while bringing his employer in a quiet corner of the room._

" _We'll stay in here for a couple of days, while thinking of our next plan of actions." Elijah gave the order to his right hand man._

" _You have a lovely hacienda." Bonnie complimented the eldest of the Mikaelson, while scattering the frescoes on the living room walls._

" _Thank you; Miss Bennett; it's one of my cherished homes in Europe." Elijah replied, while nodding respectfully._

" _How many homes do you have in Europe?" Bonnie inquired, in shock._

" _Quite a few actually… It would probably take too long to list them all." He added, with a dismissive hand gesture._

" _To be frank, my favorite is our estate in Greece." Rebekah commented._

" _Suddenly I feel like the poor adopted child of this family." Stefan mocked, while taking a look at the magnificent night view of the bay._

" _You mean pet, don't you Salvatore?" Kol mocked._

" _Go to hell, Kol." Stefan replied, while rolling his eyes._

" _I've been there, and done that." Kol added, grinning._

" _Did you marry Bill Gates?" Bonnie asked Katerina. "You know Microsoft, billionaire?"_

" _I'm Russian, not completely out of the loop of what is going-on in the world; you know." Katerina commented._

" _Carolina, look at this, it's magnificent." Bonnie called her friend the minute Klaus and Carolina entered the living room._

" _Who painted this?" Carolina wondered, while sliding the tips of her fingers on the colorful fresco._

" _It's Klaus." Rebekah responded, proudly; a smile blessing her lips._

" _You… You did this?" Bonnie asked Carolina's husband._

" _Yah, it's my work." Klaus confessed, humbly. "I did it many years ago."_

" _Well you're frankly talented." Bonnie commented, truthfully._

" _Thank you." Klaus nodded._

" _So, what's the plan bro?" Kol asked Elijah; while dropping his butt on a leather arm chair. "How will we free mother of this son-of-a-bitch kidnapper, no offence Klaus."_

" _I won't take it personally this time, Kol." Klaus responded, his sight meeting Carolina's._

" _It's quite late, we should get a few hours of sleep, and tomorrow we'll take time to discuss our plan of actions." Elijah addressed the group, while nodding his head._

" _Che cosa è questo? Nemmeno una telefonata per avvertirmi della sua visita?" A middle aged woman, all dressed in black from head to toes, appeared in front of their eyes; while shouting at Elijah's head, both of her arms firmly crossed over her chest._

" _I know Isabella, I should have called to inform you of our visit, but it was kind of a last minute travel plan." Elijah informed the Italian woman, before lowering his head to kiss both of her cheeks._

" _Mm… You're too charming for your own good, Elijah Mikaelson." Isabella responded, in accented English. "Who's he?" She glanced at George; suspiciously; from the corners of her eyes._

" _George, one of my most trusted man, Isabella." Elijah reassured her. "You can trust him with your life."_

" _If you don't have any more orders, I'll take a last look around the estate with the guards." George nodded; respectfully to his employer._

" _I don't have any at the moment." Elijah replied. "Thank you, George."_

" _I … I just want to say that I hope your mother, I mean that Maria will be found safe and sound." George lowered his flushed cheeks, before leading his steps toward the exit._

" _I appreciate the thought." Elijah thanked him; before seeing the man disappear from his sight._

" _Wow!" Bonnie commented._

" _What?" Rebekah wondered._

" _Well, it's obvious to a blind; you do realize that your "pilot" is obviously in love with your maid slash mother?" Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "…Right?"_

" _What?" They all exclaimed; dumbfounded and in shock._

" _You, Kol Mikaeslon, spoiled child; put your feet down from my coffee table, now!" Isabella warned the youngest, while pointing in his direction._

" _Yes, right away Signora." Kol obeyed, precipitately._

" _You, I still don't like you." She pointed toward Klaus._

" _Well; at least you constant in your say." Klaus smirked. "Can I have a kiss, Isabella?" He pointed toward his right cheek._

" _No." She replied, dryly. "Who are these skinny women?" She pointed toward both Carolina and Katerina._

" _I beg your pardon?" Katerina replied, outraged; while crossing her arms over her chest._

" _Isabella, let me present to you these lovely ladies; Katerina is my wife and Carolina is Klaus's wife." Elijah explained, while retaining an urge to burst into laughter._

" _Well, it's obvious I'll have to nourish them with a lot of pasta." She came to the conclusion. "And somebody on this earth wanted you as husband?" Isabella questioned Klaus, while arching an eyebrow._

" _You're always a breath of fresh air in this house, Isabella." Stefan started laughing at her say._

" _Oh Stefano!" Isabella exclaimed at the apparition, while raising her hands in the air to thank God; before reaching Stefan's standing position._

" _How are you Isabella?" Stefan gave the woman a hug and kisses._

" _Look at you, bello, with the beautiful hair … Why aren't you married yet?" She questioned, unhappy; while turning her mad glance at Rebekah. "You; marry this gorgeous man and make an honorable woman of yourself."_

" _I'll take that into consideration." Rebekah rolled her eyes, while thinking that it was pointless to even contradict the Italian maid._

" _And you!" She pointed at Bonnie._

" _What? I'm too skinny too?" Bonnie winced._

" _Are you the "padrona" of him?" Isabella questioned, while pointing toward Kol._

" _What? What is she saying?" Bonnie questioned._

" _Yes, she is." Kol replied, teaser._

" _She's asking if you are Kol's mistress." Rebekah informed the young woman._

" _What… No, no padrona… There's no me and him!" Bonnie waved both of her hands in negation at the Italian woman._

" _Ok, now that all introductions have been made, could you show the ladies to their respective bedroom, Isabella?" Elijah asked the maid, while kissing her forehead._

" _Buon Dio; I've said it, and I'll say it again… You're too charming for your own good, Elijah Mikaelson!" She protested, while rolling her eyes to the ceiling; before signing the ladies to follow her steps upstairs._

* * *

_Maria paced back and forth in front of the canopy bed; arms crossed over her chest. It had been hours since the moment she had been brought and kept prisoner in this suite. Granted basic needs had been offered to her on a silver platter: clothes, food, and basic necessity like toiletry and blood bags, but she had refused them all._

_She startled at the crinkle sound of the entrance door, leading inside a servitor who brought a service table on wheels; with two set of silver dinning plates, bottle of champagne, and a few other side dishes._

" _I don't want any of this; you can bring it back to the kitchen." She complained, out loud, with a hand gesture._

" _What a shame to have this feast go to waste, it's one of my favorite dish." Ludvig exclaimed, while entering the suite in all his glory._

_Maria kept herself immobile for a few seconds; while maintaining her sight locked in the one of this powerful man._

" _Leave us alone." Petrov ordered his guards and servitor, before hearing the door being closed on its arch. "How are you Ingrid?" He asked, a smile blessing the corners of his lips; while taking a few steps to reach her standing position._

" _My name is Maria; I don't know any Ingrid… You must be mistaking me for somebody else." She raised her chin, in a confrontational gesture._

" _Oh yes, I've heard about your unfortunate memory lost." He confirmed, while raising a silver cover, before handing a blood bag to his guest. "You need to drink blood, or you'll mummify soon, it's as simple as that."_

" _I don't want anything from you." Maria replied, dryly; while shaking her head, stubbornly._

" _You're not nourishing yourself for my behalf, but more for yours." Ludvig forced the issue, while raising an eyebrow. "At least, if not for yourself, do it for your children, Ingrid."_

_Maria sighed loudly, while weighting the pros and cons, to finally grab the blood blag from his hands, before tearing it open and taking large gulps of the red elixir._

" _There, isn't it better?" He smirked, while approaching the service table, before grabbing the bottle of champagne in his hands. "I hope you like champagne?" He asked, while un-wrapping the golden foil placed around the bottle and cork._

" _Blood was a necessity for my survival, as for the rest of your gifts; you can shove them in your ass!" Maria lashed out._

_Ludvig startled at her say; before leaning his head back to burst into loud laughter._

" _And here's the woman I fell in love with in all of her glory." He exclaimed, joyful; before handing to Maria a flute filled with premium champagne. "This luxury is quite expensive in Russia, you should be thankful."_

" _Sure, let me be thankful." Maria nodded, before throwing the content of her glass on Ludvig's face. "There, I feel better already!" She added, before throwing the flute on the nearest wall in a shrill noise of broken glasses. "I demand to be release from this imprisonment."_

_Ludvig Petrov growled loudly; while taking a few steps to grab a napkin before sweeping the amber liquid off his face and neck._

" _Quite a temper you still have running in your veins, woman." He noticed, unhappy; before grabbing his own glass and gulping the alcohol in his throat._

" _I'm not here to play your sick game of revenge on my employers; I won't accept the victim treatment or be a pawn in your hands." Maria warned him._

" _And yet you were a pawn in your husband's hands for so many years." Ludvig replied, dryly. "Do you know how many centuries my heart has ached to see you again?" He asked, while retracing his steps to reach Maria's standing position. "And don't push the amnesic card on me; I can see in your eyes that you perfectly know who I am."_

" _At the moment you are the sick man who's retaining me prisoner against my will, nothing less, nothing more." Maria mumbled, angrily; between her teeth._

" _And yet, I'm so much more and you know it." He replied, angrily. "Why don't you try the father of your son Niklaus, or maybe you'll need this to remember our connection?" He warned; while forcefully grabbing both of Maria's upper arms to bring her in full contact with his muscular chest, before crashing his mouth on her lips._

_Maria let out a small cry over the surprise of his unexpected gesture, before remaining immobile in the forced embrace of his arms; with her lips kept closed, and her eyes kept wide opened. Ludvig's kiss was nothing more than an act of power over her stubborn behavior; and she would certainly not respond or give in to it; even if a big part of her heart could remember the erotic taste of his kisses. He pushed her at arm length before wiping his mouth with the back of his right hand._

" _Happy now… You've proved your power over a woman; while using your physical force over her?" Maria busted to his face, while stumbling her way to the bed._

" _If I was you Ingrid I would reconsider your mean ways towards me." Ludvig pointed a finger at her. "After all I hold the life of your precious children in my hands." He warned her, before retracing his steps to the exit of the suite, while slamming the door on its arch._

* * *

_Rebekah leaned her body on the guard-rail of her bedroom balcony, her head and sight raised at the full moon in the night sky, when she suddenly felt a presence at a few feet of distance. She wiped the tears off her cheeks, before turning her head at the visitor._

" _You came to gloat over my midnight sorrows?" She asked, while raising an eyebrow._

" _Nope, I came to offer you a glass of red wine." Stefan handed a class to the blonde Original._

" _Thanks" She nodded, grateful; before gulping the reddish delight. "Good choice of bottle."_

" _Don't tell your brothers, but I've visited their wine cellar." Stefan grinned; while leaning his back on the guard rail; before savoring the fruity taste of the alcohol._

" _You secret is safe with me." Rebekah smirked, while winking back at the young vampire._

" _You couldn't sleep?" Stefan wondered out loud._

" _No." She replied, while shaking her head. "I'm wondering about our mother's safety. Is she fed? Taking care of? Is she tortured?"_

" _I doubt Klaus's biological father would harm Esther in any way." Stefan shrugged his shoulders. "Worst case scenario, she is a valuable pawn in his hands, and he needs to keep her safe and in one vampire piece, best case scenario, he's still infatuated by her. After all she is a beautiful woman."_

" _She is, isn't she?" Rebekah smiled, proudly._

" _Like her daughter." He confessed, honestly._

" _What is this, Salvatore?" The original sister asked, while lowering her flushed cheeks away from his sight. "You're sending too much compliments my way, is it the alcohol speaking?"_

" _No, it's the honesty in me talking." Stefan replied, truthfully. "I know you, Rebekah; you'll hide your worries underneath a load of crap, while acting like the supreme bitch; when in fact you'll be crying your eyes out alone in the darkness of your soul." He added, while lowering his glass on a side table; before reaching her standing position._

" _Wow, Stefan Salvatore … The "I know it all", so you think you know me so well, mm?" She shrugged, falsely indifferent._

" _We were an item not so long ago, or did you forget about that fact already, Rebekah?" Stefan asked, before grabbing Rebekah's chin, before turning her head to meet her eyes. "Just know that you have a friend at your side, if ever you need one." He added, while blessing her forehead of a kiss._

_Rebekah closed her eyes for a fraction of second; when she opened them Stefan Salvatore had vanished from her sight._

" _What this beautiful speech of yours even means, Stefan Salvatore?" She sighed loudly; before gulping her entire glass of wine._

* * *

_Bonnie pushed the lace curtains placed in front of her bedroom window to take a glimpse at the majestic night view of the City of Milan, before letting a smile spread on her lips, with sparkles filling her eyes… This was just so amazing! She turned on herself, before startling at the dark silhouette, while letting a cry out of her mouth, soon suppressed by a hand placed over her mouth._

" _Shush, it's me; don't scream." Kol whispered to the young woman; while lowering his hand away from her face, before placing a finger over his lips._

" _Do you want to give me a heart attack or what?" Bonnie punched him on his upper arms._

" _Ouch! Hey… I'm a fragile creature; go easy on me; darling." Kol protested, vehemently, while raising his arms in front of his face. "I wanted to check if you were ok?"_

" _You, a fragile creature my ass… You're nothing but!" She rolled her eyes; while strolling by his side to reach the bed. "Yes, I'm ok… Now, go away; it's late and I want to catch a few hours of sleep."_

" _Nice "ass" if I may add." Kol smirked; while lowering his fiery sight on her delightful behind._

" _You do realize that this wild fantasy of yours, about "you and I", it will never happen." Bonnie warned him, while undressing herself of her blouse and tank top, before standing in her black lace bra in front of Kol's speechless expression._

" _You do realize that you're warning me that we'll never sleep together, while undressing in front of my sight." Kol arched an eyebrow._

" _Yes, and it's to make my point valid." She responded, firmly._

" _Well, don't stop on my account then, Bonnie." He grinned, before crossing his arms in front of his chest, while leaning his upper body on the wall._

" _I don't intend to stop on your account, Kol Mikaelson." She replied, while getting rid of her boots and pair of cargo pants, before standing in her lace black pair of panties._

" _There's a God and I want to thank him." He joined his hands, while raising his sight to the ceiling._

" _Get a grip on yourself, it's not like you've never seen a woman in her underwear before." She sighed loudly._

" _Oh I saw plenty of undressed women before…" Kol nodded, affirmatively; while taking a few steps to reach her standing position. "But, you forget that none of those ladies where actually you." He added, while drowning his sight in Bonnie's. "Now why did you undress if it was not for my eyes only?" He questioned, while sliding his fiery sight on her revealed body._

" _Is it such a big deal for you? I can't sleep in my clothes; therefore, I'll sleep in my underwear." She explained, shrugging._

" _I guess you forgot the part about Isabella placing a nightgown on that chair for you to sleep in tonight." He grinned, while tilting his head toward the chair._

" _What … I … I had no idea that … That a nightgown was placed on that chair." Bonnie stammered through her explanation, redness reaching her cheeks._

" _Mm… Is that the best you can do to convince me that you were not trying to seduce me?" Kol asked, while spanking her behind._

" _Hey!" She protested, vehemently; while rubbing her bruised butt._

" _Tell yourself whatever you need to sleep tonight." Kol mouthed the words in top of her trembling lips, before retracing his steps toward the exit of the bedroom. "And by the way, Bonnie, don't you think that I've forgotten about your knowledge on our vampirism, but I know how tired you are, we'll talk tomorrow, darling." He added, while winking at the young woman, before closing the door behind his back._

* * *

_Katerina closed the row of small buttons placed in front of her cotton white nightgown, handed to her by Isabella; before hearing the discreet creaking sound of the door being closed back on its arch._

" _There are… I mean, this house is smaller in size; therefore there are no more bedrooms available, but if you want I could sleep in the living room?" Elijah informed and inquired at the same time. "As for the clothes, we'll take care of finding you a new wardrobe tomorrow."_

" _ **Het.**_ _" She replied in negation in Russian; while shaking her head. "Don't be ridiculous, I'm your wife, you're my husband, it's a double bed." She titled her head toward it. "We can share a mattress, can we?" She shrugged, while positioning herself in front of the bay window._

" _Yes, I guess we can." He nodded, while getting rid of his blazer, only to drop it a second later on a chair; before rolling the sleeves of his shirt on his forearms. "I'm just surprised that you would … I mean, considering that …" He stammered through his thoughts and sentence, while wincing and passing a hand through his tangled hair. Damn, how much he hated not having the control over this!_

" _Considering that you are my vampire husband now in reverse of my human husband before?" Katerina finished her husband's sentence._

" _Yes, something in those words." Elijah nodded, uncomfortable._

" _It would be hypocritical of me, considering that I used to be an escort for your specie." She shrugged._

" _I … I dislike when you lowering yourself to what you used to be." Elijah whispered the words; while approaching Katerina's standing position, before sliding his hands on each side of her waist._

" _And what am I now?" Katerina swallowed a lump in her throat, beats of her heart rising dangerously inside her chest._

" _My wife…" He murmured, while slowly raising the cotton fabric of her nightgown on her legs and thighs. "You're the woman who's driving me crazy with desire."_

" _You lied to me, Elijah … I basically pour my soul to you; and yet, you lied about your true identity." Katerina confessed; honestly. "And now I'm afraid, because I'm not sure if I can trust you? I don't know if you're totally yourself with me?"_

_Elijah closed his eyes, while sighing loudly; before pulling himself away from her standing position._

" _Turn yourself around and look at me now, Katerina." He ordered his wife; gently._

_Katerina took a few deep breaths into her lungs; while slowly turning on herself to face her husband, before letting out a small cry of surprise, soon repressed with her right hand placed over her mouth._

" _Oh my God…" She expressed her surprise, while remaining motionless._

" _This is my true colors; Katerina" He confessed, humbly; while standing in front of her sight in his true vampire treats. "There's nothing more that I'm hiding from you; except one thousand years of continuous mistakes and this dark part of myself."_

_Katerina took a few steps to reach Elijah's standing position, before raising her trembling right hand to slowly touch his face, the rays of the moonlight entering the penumbra of the bedroom, through the lace curtains, to brighten his features. She traced, with her fingers, the dark lines around his red eyes; before lowering them near his opened mouth, while feeling with the tip of a finger the sharp tips of his fangs._

" _Oh Katerina…" Elijah whispered, touched beyond beliefs by her openness, while closing his eyes to slowly regain his human form; before grabbing her right hand to softly kiss the interior of her wrist, when the pulsations of heart could be felt._

" _Promise me to never hurt me or turn me, and … And… And I'll remain your wife until I'll be too old for you." She stammered through her own promise._

" _Ok, if this is what you want, I promise that I'll never turn you." Elijah nodded, while cupping her beautiful face in his hands. "But you'll never be too old for me, Katerina." He added, while softly kissing her forehead._

_Katerina grabbed both of Elijah's wrists, while slowly pushing his hands away from her face, before taking a few steps back. She raised her hands in front of her nightgown before dropping the fabric at her feet._

" _This is my true colors, Elijah." She raised her trembling eyelashes and teary eyes at him. "A woman who's been used more that she can count on both hands by men; an escort who sell her body and soul for money; therefore judging you would be judging my own self." She added; tears rolling on her cheeks._

_Elijah kept his sight locked in Katerina's for a few seconds, while swallowing a lump of intense emotions in his throat, before taking a few steps to reach his wife's standing position. He raised her in his arms; while reaching the bed and softly dropping her trembling body on the sheet, before getting rid of his own clothes and taking a lying position by her side._

" _Oh Katerina, Katerina … What did I do to deserve you in my life." He whispered, while bringing her naked body in full contact with his, before kissing both of her watery eyelids, forehead, and cheeks, only to finally bring her in the comfort of his arms._

" _I'm so tired, Elijah." She confessed; while slowly closing her eyes, before drifting into sleep._

" _I know you are; I am too." He responded, before closing his eyes, only to fell asleep a few seconds later, while holding her near to his heart._

* * *

" _There are … I mean there are no more bedrooms available in the house, Carolina; but I could easily sleep in the living room if you want me to?" Klaus suggested, while passing his long sleeve t-shit above his head, before standing chest naked, with leather necklaces dressing his neck; on his side of the bed._

_They were both standing on each side of the canopy bed, with their backs turned to their sights; while modestly and awkwardly undressing themselves of their clothes._

" _What… No… I … It is fine, I mean I'm fine." She shrugged, while standing with her arms crossed in front of her chest, now only dressed of her white lace bra and matching panties, before taking a quick glance at Klaus's naked muscular chest, the tip of her tongue sliding on her bottom lip._

" _You have a shivering voice for someone whose fine, Love." He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _What do you want me to say, Klaus? That the past twenty-four hours have been a walk in the park?" She responded, dryly. "Well it hasn't been enjoyable for me, I'm sorry." She added. "I'm worried … I'm worried about us; about my sister, about Maria!"_

" _Fuck!" The hybrid exploded, while punching the wall with his closed right fist, under Carolina's startle of surprise, before pacing back and forth in the length of the room. "I'm sorry, don't be afraid." He raised his opened palm to her. "You … You wouldn't feel this way if it wasn't for me, I'm the one responsible for all of this shit!"_

" _How is this even logical of you to think that way?" Carolina replied, angrily; before stopping his pace while posting her tensed body in front of his walking path, only dressed with her matching pair of underwear._

" _If you would have stayed in Russia you wouldn't be in this predicament, sweetheart; how hard is it for you to understand that I'm your worst nightmare?" Klaus sighed loudly, before sliding his fiery sight on her revealed body._

" _For the longest time I … I had put the blame on my sister's shoulders. She was the one responsible for these arranged marriages; she was the one who brought me in London and put me in your arms." She stomped her feet furiously on the floor. "But I own my life now and my decisions, Klaus. I've stayed because I wanted to be with you, and then you hurt me so much and you left and I broke in thousands of pieces, not able to understand the huge hole I had in my heart the moment you've disappeared." She added, before pausing, while taking a few deep breaths into her lungs. "And not even forty-eight hours ago we found our way back to each other, and I felt whole in your arms again, and happy… And then…" She closed her eyes, while feeling tears filling her eyelids. "Then, everything went to hell! I learned that Maria and your family were all vampires, and that my sister knew about your existence as specie, when I thought that all of this was just a legend and nothing more. Maria was kidnapped, and we were attacked in our home, and … We had to take a plane to Italy, and now … And now …" She stammered, nervously; her chest rising up and down under the wild and rapid beats of her heart._

" _Are you so gullible, Carolina? All these events you've enumerated are my fault; I'm the one who created this nightmare!" He yelled; while grabbing both of her upper arms. "What would it take for you to see my true colors? What will it take for you to stop forgiving me of my sins?"_

" _I've never been afraid of you, Klaus Mikaelson! I've only been afraid of the extreme power you have by holding my heart in your hands" She lashed out to his face. "I've been taken aback for a few seconds after learning that you were a vampire, because I had a lot to digest in so little time, but; I'm not easily put down." She added, furiously. "Stop feeling sorry for your pathetic self; and start owning your life decisions for a change."_

" _So, you're not afraid of me then, Love?" Klaus questioned, while narrowing his sight on his prey. "How do you even know how I look when I transform into the beast that I am, mm?"_

" _I … I don't know, but I wasn't afraid of you when you've healed my wound back in the tunnel." She replied, redness appearing on her cheeks._

" _And now are you afraid, sweetheart?" He asked once again, perniciously; under her loud cries of surprise, while suddenly changing into his hybrids treats, fangs shinning into the penumbra of the room._

_Klaus pushed Carolina on the opposite wall of the bedroom, while using his vampire speed, before growling savagely to scare the young woman. He laid his naked chest on her shivering body, before grabbing both of her wrists to push her arms above her head._

_Carolina remained immobile with her eyes closed, left breathless under his assault; while feeling his own breath caressing her left cheek, with his fangs scratching the delicate skin of her neck._

" _You tasted so good, Love; I could easily drain you of all your blood right now." He warned her, while pushing his fangs in Carolina's flesh, but without piercing the first layer of her skin, knowing perfectly that he wasn't hurting her, as only an Original could master this skill._

" _That … That is all you got for me?" She mumbled, angrily; between her teeth. "A few empty threats, growls and fangs?"_

_Klaus froze his movements, left under the sudden surprise of her statement; before raising his head and drowning his sight in his wife's. He released his grip on her wrists, before grabbing her butt and raising her body on the wall, with Carolina's legs encircling his waist a second later._

_She raised both of her hands on his face, before tracing with the tip of her fingers, the dark marks around his eyes._

" _It's kind of cool." She confessed, a smile appearing on her lips._

" _You're killing me, Carolina." He confessed, tears filling his red vampire eyes. "I don't deserve you, I don't deserve this."_

_She gently cupped Klaus's face with both of her hands, before slowly closing her eyes and sliding her trembling lips on his. He moaned softly; with his hands caressing the curve of her hips._

" _Ouch." She complained, while cutting the tip of her tongue on one of Klaus's fangs._

" _Come here." He responded, while kissing her and softly healing her skin, while interlacing her tongue with hers, before carrying her body toward the bed. "I thought you were exhausted?" He questioned, smiling; while dropping her body on the bedspread, before rejoining her._

" _I'm wide awake now." She smiled back; while feeling his wandering fingers slide underneath the lace fabric of her panties, before softly caressing her wet folds. "Oh…" She let a loud moan out of her mouth, while closing her eyes to enjoy his erotic caresses._

" _What this devil has done to deserve such heaven?" Klaus questioned; before crashing his mouth on Carolina's lips._

* * *

" _Hey, pig heads… Do you know how expensive this leather jacket is?" The abducted guest exclaimed in fury, while being dragged through the corridors of the manor. "Very expensive, so get your filthy hands away from me and my clothes!" The man ordered; dryly, before being pushed inside the parlor room. "You're very lucky that I am in a good mood!" He yelled at the closed door, while turning on his heels to face the penumbra of the room. It was early morning, but the velvet curtains were left closed on the numerous windows._

" _Were you treated badly by my men, my friend?" A male voice inquired._

" _I should have known it was you." Petrov's guest mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while standing in the middle of the room, closed fists placed on each side of his hips._

" _You know a lot of powerful men in Russia?" Ludvig smirked; while directing his steps toward the bar, before pouring vodka for both himself and his invitee._

" _It was kind of difficult to know where they were taking me, while being blindsided the all duration of the trip." The man added. "A little early for vodka, don't you think?" He frowned._

" _My deepest apologies for the bad treatment you had to endure." Petrov responded, truthfully, while pouring a bit of orange juice into the vodka. "Well it's never too early for vodka, more so if you drop a few vitamin C in the mix." He mocked, while reaching his guest's standing position, before handing the class to him. "Now drink!" He ordered._

" _Well, geez … Thanks, I guess." The man replied, before gulping the glass handed to him. "So…" He winced; at the strong taste. "Tell, me; what do you want from me this time? I've giving you all the information that I had on the Originals, I don't have anything else to give."_

" _Perhaps, perhaps not… Who could say?" Petrov shrugged, while taking a sitting place in one of the armchairs._

" _Well, in the meantime, if you don't mind; I'll like to get back to my vampire life." The man demanded, while dropping the empty glass on a console table. "So, if you could get to the point it would be grandly appreciated."_

" _Tell me my friend; what could you tell me as information, about a few of the secret emplacements where the Originals could be hiding in Europe at the moment?" Petrov asked._

" _There's quite a long list, and I don't know all of their getaways all-inclusive resorts." Damon replied, sarcastically._

" _You see my friend; you still can be of help to me." Ludvig concluded, while rising on his feet, before taking a few steps to reach his guest's standing position. "You're still a valuable pawn in my hands, Damon Salvatore."_

" _Well, it seems that I won't have any choice or say in the matter, am I right?" Damon replied, dryly._

" _You should count yourself lucky, Damon; that I'll spare your brother's life." Ludvig replied, smirking._


	20. A blissful morning in hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story; that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

_**Russian – Moscow; Ludvig's manor** _

" _We've checked all the locations that Damon Salvatore gave to us, and they are not hiding in any of those places." Alexay exclaimed, while pushing the doors of the parlor room on his flamboyant entrance. "We're back at square one, and this is without the fact that he could still be protecting his own brother; the elusive Stefan Salvatore."_

" _We won't need his help anymore; I believe the information will come to us in an unexpected and easier way." Ludvig smirked; while standing in front of the bay window. "You can relax, Alexay; and release the young vampire to his life of debauchery, it's the only thing he's able to do anyway."_

" _Something new presented itself?" Alexay questioned, surprised; while taking a sitting position on an armchair. "You intrigue me now."_

" _It's a "someone"." Ludvig rectified; while turning his sight toward his right arm man, a smile spreading on his manly lips._

" _Tell me more Petrov?" Alexay wondered, in interest._

" _Mikael Mikaelson!" Ludvig exclaimed, while reaching a console table to pour a cup of coffee._

" _Your greatest enemy is back here, in Russia?" Alexay exclaimed, in surprise; while opening his eyes widely._

" _And he demands to see me, from his high pedestal; while being on my territory." Ludvig busted to laughter. "At the same time, I'm kind of intrigued; I have a feeling he wants to make a deal with me and offer me the information that I so desperately need; therefore I'll oblige to his demand."_

" _So, you'll meet with him, here, in the manor?" Alexay wondered out loud._

" _Yes, my dear Alexay." Ludvig replied, while taking a seating position on a matching armchair placed in front of his employee. "But not in this parlor room." He smirked; viciously. "I have other plan."_

" _And may I demand where you'll meet with him?" Alexay asked, a smile raising both corners of his lips, while his mind was already predicting Ludvig's answer._

" _The combat room, I have this urge to do some exercise this morning." Ludvig replied; teaser; while rising his cup of coffee in the air. "Could you set the meeting for me, my dear friend, and assure yourself that Ingrid will visit us?" He added. "I'm sure she'll be more than happy to have some kind of entertainment, would you say?"_

" _It will be with my greatest pleasure, Ludvig" Alexay rose on his legs, while bending his upper body in a reverence, before directing his walking steps toward the exit of the parlor room._

* * *

_**Mikaelson's manor, Italy - Milan** _

_Bonnie stretched her arms above her head, while keeping her eyes closed for a few extra seconds, with a blissful smile spreading on her full lips. She had slept like a baby in this new bed, and the birds' chirping right outside her bedroom window was a delightful sound into her ears._

" _Rise and shine; sleepy head!" She heard the male hoarse voice greeted her, while startling, opening her eye, with her heart skipping a beat; before abruptly raising herself into a sitting position, sheet kept firmly over her chest, left hand placed in her hair, while scattering the bedroom in search of the intruder._

_The said intruder; a pretentious cocky brown hair man, was sitting at the foot of her bed, arms crossed over his muscular chest, head titled to the left, with a smirk raising both corners of his manly lips._

" _It's you… Of course it's you!" She pointed toward Kol Mikaelson's sitting position. "Are you out of your mind; you almost gave me a heart attack?" She busted at him, breathless; while pulling on the bed sheet to enroll the fabric around her naked body, before stepping away from the mattress. "What are you doing here, anyway?"_

" _I've told you that we would talk, so here I am!" Kol responded. "Mm… What a beautiful view of your feminine assets in the early hours of the morning; you sleep naked oftentimes, darling, or is it just for my visual pleasure?" He added; teaser. "You must know that if you would drop the bed sheet, I wouldn't complain."_

" _What about: not of your damn business if I sleep oftentimes naked or not, would that particular answer suit you?" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth; before reaching for her clothes, left there the night before, on a nearby chair. "Now turn around!" She ordered; while turning her back at him._

" _Oh come on, nothing that I did not see hundreds of times before!" Kol exclaimed, while slowly rising on his feet, before reaching the young woman's standing position. "Or that I won't see from you one day in a very near future." He murmured, seductively, near Bonnie's left ear; while lowering his head in the hollow of her shoulders; both of his opened palms slowly rising on her silky ebony skin; from her wrists to her upper arms._

_Bonnie slowly raised her left leg, before kicking the vampire in the tibia, while giving an additional nudge in his abdomen, under his loud cry of pain._

" _Fuck!" He protested; vehemently. "What did you do this for woman?"_

" _What? Why? Did I just hurt your monstrous male ego?" Bonnie retained her laughter, while raising the sheet on her hips, before sliding her panties on her legs. "Now, whoosh… I need to get dress!"_

" _At the moment, it's my sex drive barometer that's rising dangerously high." He mocked, while sliding his voyeurism sight on the back of her bare legs, and on the delicious curves of her bottom._

" _Well, tell your "little friend" to go south instead of North!" She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, while squirming underneath the sheet to dress herself of her bra, soon followed by the rest of her clothes._

" _The thing sweetheart is that there is nothing little about my "friend", but if you want to give "him" a pet name at his fair value, it would please me grandly?" He smirked; while leaning his back on a nearby dresser, before crossing his arms in front of his muscular chest. "You want for us to find him one?"_

" _Gosh, you're the most pretentious and arrogant man that I've ever met." Bonnie shook her head in disbelief; before dropping the sheet on the bed, while strolling by his side to reach the bedroom door._

" _Well, it's not my fault if I'm particularly charming, dashing and sexy at the same time." Kol shrugged; intercepting Bonnie's exit while grabbing her left wrist to pull her in his arms, his two strong arms firmly encircling her waist. "Now, aren't you silencing that beautiful mouth of yours and give me a morning kiss?" He smirked, comically; while rising up-and-down both of his eyebrows._

" _You want a morning kiss, you're kidding right?" Bonnie watched; speechless; while squirming underneath his strong grip to free herself of his imprisonment, but without achieving her goal. "Kol you're exasperating me!"_

" _Beautiful liar, you like me more and more, with each passing day; it's just a matter of time until… " Kol titled his head toward the bed, before raising his right hand to pass the tip of his thumb on the length of her bottom lip, in a suggestive gesture._

" _Right…Sharing your bed, is a gift from heaven, because you're charming, dashing, and a sex-God on two legs, how could I even imagine refusing this opportunity?" She nodded, while narrowing her sight on him._

" _Yah, it's about right." He smiled; proudly. "See, you're coming around; darling."_

" _This will happen, probably at the same time that I'll swim in an ocean filled with angry piranhas!" Bonnie replied, dryly; while hitting the heel of her boot on his right feet; before freeing herself of his embrace._

" _Oh shit! You know that you're a real vixen, Bonnie Bennett." Kol exclaimed, while elevating his foot in the air. "Not that I am complaining, I love this hot-cold relationship that we're having, I was kind of bored before with women in general." He shrugged._

" _Do you even hear yourself talking, mm? You're degrading the status of women as sexual objects each time your lips are moving!" She shouted; while grabbing her head with both hands._

" _Me? Degrading women? Nah, I love women, and particularly a wild one name Bonnie Bennett." He replied, smirking; while lowering his foot on the floor. "Now that we've played our little "bickering" game of the day, and that we've both enjoyed it so much; why aren't you telling me what I came here to hear?"_

" _I don't know what you're talking about?" Bonnie shrugged, while lowering her flushed cheeks. "Now if you'll excuse-me, I'll try to find Carolina; and figure out with the help of your brother Elijah, when it will be safe to go back to England, where my life is waiting for me." She added, while turning the door handle; before letting out a cry of surprise when the panel reclose on its arch._

" _What do you say if instead you'll answer to my question: How did you know that I had compelled you and what are you?" Kol asked; unwavering._

_Bonnie took a deep breath into her lungs, before raising her sight in the Original._

" _It's because I'm a witch." She responded, unceremoniously._

* * *

" _ **Yngve**_ _… Welcome my friend!" Petrov greeted Mikael; while grabbing a sword placed on the wall, in a display showcase._

" _Ludvig… It was much unexpected to receive an invitation into your own home." Mikael raised both corners of his lips into a sadistic smile. "And please, call me Mikael, Yngve is so last millennium, would you say?"_

" _I'll do as you wish, Mikael." Ludvig replied, good player, while throwing a sword in the air, in direction of his guest; who caught it in his right hand with much reflex. "I thought we could have a "friendly" combat, what do you say?"_

" _I'm always up to it." Mikael replied, while dropping the sword on a near table, only to take time to get rid of his jacket. "It's been a long time since our last combat, and we could always talk afterward?"_

" _It has been quite a long time." Petrov agreed, while choosing his own weapon; before turning to face his guest. "What do you say if we make things more interesting, like the winner obtains some kind of information?"_

" _Where's my wife, Petrov?" Mikael smirked, while waving his sword in front of his enemy's sight, as practice gesture._

" _Did you say your wife?" Petrov repeated, before leaning his head back; while bursting into laughter. "You're delusional my dear Mikael, no, I meant the mother of my son, the love of my life. You remember Klaus, don't you?"_

" _I remember him all too well, unfortunately." Mikael winced, in disdain. "Now what is proving me that Esther has been retained against her will in these walls? You could easily have killed her, already." He shrugged, falsely indifferent._

_Ludvig nodded to one of his guards; who immediately opened two doors, with Alexay pulling a reluctant Maria on his heels._

" _Get your filthy hands away from me!" Maria exclaimed, while freeing herself of Alexay's strong grip on her arm._

" _Sit!" He forced Maria, while pushing her on a chair._

" _Ingrid? My dear, how has been your morning so far?" Ludvig greeted her._

" _It has been a blissful morning in hell; in the house of the devil!" She replied, dryly; arms crossed over her chest; before turning her sight toward Mikael. "And it's getting worse by the minute, what are you doing here, Mister Mikaelson? You're here to gloat over the misfortune of others?"_

" _Hello my dear Esther, isn't it ironic that we are meeting each other in Russia of all places?" Mikael teased; perniciously. "You look a bit pale, are you nourishing yourself properly?"_

" _My name is Maria." She mumbled, angrily; between her teeth. "I'm a maid; and I am retained against my will in this house by this lunatic!" She pointed her hand to Ludvig._

" _She refuses to drink blood." Ludvig shrugged his shoulders, unhappy. "But today, if I have to force it down her throat, I will." He added, while narrowing his sight on Maria._

" _You've always been some kind of barbaric man, Petrov." Mikael replied, while raising the sleeves of his sweater on his forearms._

" _It takes one to know one, my dear friend." Ludvig replied, mocker. "So what is the wage of this little combat?"_

" _It's you who desires to play this game of chess, Petrov; as for me I would give the information that you want freely, with one single condition." Mikael proposed._

" _I'm listening?" Petrov replied, interested to hear his enemy's proposition._

" _I'll give you the information of their present location, while delivering Klaus on a silver platter at the same time; in return of not harming my children and taking "my wife" back from your hands." Mikael let a smirk spread on his lips._

" _You're delusional my friend, I want both my Ingrid and my son by my side." Ludvig replied, dryly._

" _You are both mad, disturbed individuals!" Maria exclaimed, disgusted; while rising on her legs. "You're talking about the life of innocent victims like it has no value to you!" She added. "You are both disgusting!" She pointed a finger toward both men, before suddenly being hit by a dizzy spell, her weak body falling freely on the floor._

" _Bring her back to her quarter, now!" Petrov ordered Alexay. "And force her to drink blood, for God sake."_

_Alexay raised Maria's body in his arms, before rushing outside the combat room._

" _Well, I guess we'll have to battle to obtain what we both desire, my dear Mikael." Ludvig proposed; dryly._

* * *

" _Katerina…" Elijah mumbled, in a semi-sleeping state of awareness; his hands sliding on the curves of the brunette's hips; while his head slowly rolled in the hollow of her left shoulder._

_She moaned sounds of pleasure in her sleep, her naked body leaning on his muscular bare chest; both comfortably placed in the middle of the gigantic bed with the sheet slowly sliding from the rounded curves of her chest to her thin waist. Elijah's hands slowly cupped each breast in his palms, while stroking their erected tips, with his lips sliding on Katerina's neck, before leaving a trail of hot kisses, with his tongue following the length of her throbbing blue vein._

_He suddenly felt the tip of his fangs lengthened near her pulsating vein, the reddish lines around his eyes darkening under the uncontrollable ghoulish impulses. He closed his eyes, while trying to get a grip on this unexpected morning urge to taste Katerina's red elixir. What was happening to him? Usually he could control himself in a more gentlemanly manner than this? He reopened his eyes widely; while being thankful for his many centuries of practice that gave him the necessary restrain to control himself._

_The young Russian murmured the Original's name on her full parted lips, a smile raising both corners of her lips, while letting herself drift into this blissful semi-conscious state of erotic pleasure._

" _Oh beautiful Katerina, what are you doing to me?" Elijah wondered to himself, out loud; before pushing the bed sheet to the foot of the bed; while sliding his fiery sight on Katerina's naked body. "I'm going to make you scream my name this time." He promised, in a shallow whisper._

_Elijah Mikaelson, one of the Original vampires, more than a thousand years old, had fallen madly in love with this young human woman, and he was now realizing the enormous power she had over his emotions and actions, and it was frightening him more than he could even explain._

_He positioned himself at foot of the bed, before slowly leaning his head to slide his lips to her left ankle, upward to her calf, the sensible spot behind her knee; the tender one inside of her thigh, his left hand following the same path with her right leg._

_Katerina bended her lower back; while grabbing her pillow with both hands, her nails scratching the fabric, with each upward trail of Elijah's lips. She was now fully awake, but refusing to open her eyes in case this was just a dream, or a fragment of her erotic imagination. This man, a vampire, and her husband now, had become a toxic drug to her, which she was now fully realizing that she couldn't live without._

" _Elijah…" She let the cry out of her mouth when his lips reached her intimacy; while tasting the intensifying wetness between her legs. She strengthened her upper body in a sitting position; her hands finding their ways to Elijah's head tucked between her legs, before letting her fingers burry themselves in his tangled morning hair, while pushing him in a nearer proximity of her burning core, her hips rocking the motions of his caresses._

_Katerina's sexual pleasure came rapidly and in a flamboyant explosion of cries and intense tremors, leaving her panting for air._

_Elijah raised his head and sight to glance at his wife; the biggest smirk of satisfaction and proudness over his prowess spreading on his lips. He had her exactly where he wanted…submitted to his wildest fantasies._

" _выпендриваться!" The Russian woman exclaimed, while rolling her eyes. "It means "show off" in Russian."_

" _I know what it means, wife." Elijah replied, smiling; while rising on his legs in his vampire speed, before turning his wife's body on her chest, under her cry of surprise. He lay on her back, while raising her right leg on the side, before slowly entering his hard and erected member in her walls. "Now let me show you what your vampire husband can do as a "show off, Katerina" He teased; while slowly moving his length inside of her narrowness._

* * *

_Katherine got out of the adjacent bathroom, hair brush at hands; while softly brushing the tips of her curls, when she saw Elijah's silhouette standing on their bedroom balcony, his hands holding the guard rail, with his sight lost in the beautiful scenery of the marina._

_She reached his standing position, while startling him at her arrival by his side._

" _Sorry, I did not mean to startle you, or butt in into your private time." The brunette leaned her back on the arch door; arms crossed over her chest; before letting a timid smile spread on her lips._

" _You could never be a nuisance to me, Katerina… I'm way more relax when you're near me." He confessed, humbly. "It's me… I mean, it's me who should apologize for…" He stammered through his sentence, redness reaching his bearded cheeks. "For your awakening … I did not mean to …" He sighed; while not being able to formulate his thoughts._

" _It's nothing that I couldn't handle." She shrugged. "Or that I did not appreciate … Immensely, from my husband." She added, a seductive smile raising one corner of her lips._

_**Does she even know how magnificent she is?** _ _Elijah wondered silently, while sliding an appreciative sight on her body._

" _You're walking bare feet now, Katerina?" Elijah let a rictus raised a corner of his manly lips. "Your sister is rubbing off on you?" He added, mocker._

" _Well, it's Italy and…I thought…" She started her sentence; while biting into her bottom lips. "Never mind, I'm bubbling." She added, shyly._

" _And, you'll need a few Designer shoes I suppose?" Elijah mocked; while winking at her._

" _Well… we are in Italy after all, one of the worldwide city of beautiful shoes; Elijah?" Katerina pledged her logic, in hope that he would agree to her request._

" _The owner of a Designer Italian boutique will come to the house to show to your sister and yourself a few pieces of clothes, and shoes." Elijah informed his wife, laughter in his wife._

_Katerina jumped on her feet, happily; while clapping her hands together. God it was so easy to bring a smile on his wife lips, what if one day he'll make her cry again? Elijah thought to himself, while losing his smile._

" _But I don't want the slippers with the thing on top." He pointed a finger at her feet, as a warning._

" _The feathers; I thought it was turning you on?" Katerina let her private thought slipped out of her mouth. "Oh I'm sorry, that is not what I meant." She shook her head, redness reaching her face._

" _Are you mocking your husband, Katerina?" Elijah raised an eyebrow, teaser._

" _No… yes." She confessed, smiling._

" _Are we good? I mean …" He swallowed a lump of nervousness in his throat, while taking a pause. "I mean, about our marriage, and you know?"_

" _Yes, we're good." She nodded, shyly._

_Elijah turned his sight back to the marina._

" _You're worrying about Maria, aren't you?" Katerina asked, softly; while reaching his position near the rail._

" _I'm just … Hoping she is fine and able to handle herself." He replied; honestly._

" _I miss her too, I know … I know I've known her only for a short amount of time, but …" She shrugged her shoulders, while sliding her right hand on top of his joined ones. "Maria is special in many ways, and she acted like a mother toward me and my sister."_

_Elijah turned his head, in surprise; while drowning his sight in his wife's._

" _Thank you." He managed to murmur, before grabbing her chin, and lowering his head near hers._

" _You're welcome." Katerina replied, while closing her eyes, his lips touching hers a second later._

* * *

" _So, I'm escorted out of this humble manor without a single "farewell" from the power that be?" Damon addressed both guards, sarcastically. They were holding him solidly on his upper arms, while dragging his feet toward the exit._

" _Petrov's orders, you can leave the manor as of now." One responded, toneless. "You'll be escorted to the airport."_

" _Well, see I'm not saddened by the news, far from it." Damon responded, with a sour expression plastered on his face. "Just unsettle by it." He added. "I'm thinking: this must be a catch?"_

_**Bring me bags of blood, she fainted** _ _… Damon suddenly heard Alexay's hoarse voice exclaimed to one of the maid; while turning his head and suddenly recognizing the woman Petrov's right arm man was carrying in his arms._

" _You got to be kidding me!" He mumbled to himself, in surprise; his mind taking a decision that couldn't be wise or give him any kind of reward at the end of the day, if only putting his own ass at risk. "Hey fellow Russian guys, I need to visit the restroom before leaving to the airport, you know all these long lines of waiting to board the plane?" He rolled his eyes to the ceiling, falsely sincere._

_Both guards exchanged a quick glance, before releasing Damon's arms, while nodding in direction of the nearest restroom._

" _Be quick!" One ordered the young vampire._

" _It's a sure thing, fellows." Damon nodded, while smiling and lying though his teeth. "Thanks, I really appreciate this, you are both real tsars!" He added, before leading his walking steps toward the restroom. Now he had to find Maria's quarter as soon as possible…And even sooner than that!_

* * *

_Carolina moaned softly in her semi-state of awareness; while stretching her arms above her head; her naked body spooning comfortably on Klaus's chest, with her head placed on the feathers pillow. She opened her heavy eyelids, while yawning upon waking. She took a rapid glance at the alarm clock placed on the bedside table; 8:30 a.m. was the present time. She slowly turned on herself to face her husband who was soundly asleep by her side; he let out a growl in his sleep, unsatisfied to feel the warmth of his wife's body detaching itself of his own._

_She raised her right hand to her husband face, while assuring herself to not wake him up, before sliding the tips of her fingers on the manly line of his jaw, where a beard of a few days was starting to sting on her skin. A smile slowly spread on his lips, while his left hand searched the hollow of Carolina's waist to bring her in a closer proximity._

_A fire reached the young woman cheeks when she noticed Klaus's obvious predominant bulge raising the thin fabric of the bed sheet. It's not that she was "naïve' per say; but she had never been intimate with a man before Klaus Mikealson, this vampire man, who she had just learned the species existence a few hours ago, and now her lawful husband, had been her first, and it had started on a bad note between them. Not that she wanted to rehash the past to this point, she had made peace with it, made her bed and lie in it; with her own decision to forgive and stay with him, but she have had no time to accommodate herself to what being intimate with a man entitled in her day to day life. She had pass from a rocky first sexual experience to this mind blowing sex, with a experimented man, and she had so many things to learn that she was not aware of, or simply so unexperienced, like last night had proved to her once more. In addition she had no idea if the fact that her husband was a vampire could mean something different in her intimate moment?_

_Carolina, curious, slowly raised the sheet above her head to take a look at … Well, what seemed to be her husband early morning sexual awakening, she thought to herself while biting her bottom lip. Yap! It was that … Even in his sleep? That was peculiar … Or maybe not? In the past, she had encounter herself a few erotic dreams that had left her … How could she articulates her thoughts … panting and ready for action? Yes, that summarized it perfectly!_

" _What are you looking at, Love?" Klaus asked, teaser._

_Carolina's heart skipped a beat at the sound of her husband hoarse voice, while she promptly pushed the sheet down of her head, back over her chest._

" _What? Oh … You're awake?" She stammered, nervously; while passing a hand through her tangled short curls. "I wasn't aware that you had waking up, since when exactly?" She asked, on edge._

" _I woke up at the moment you dived your head underneath the bed sheet." He smirked; with an arched eyebrow._

" _Oh…" Carolina swallowed a lump in her throat; while addressing a timid smile._

" _And?" Klaus pushed the note, under her obvious shyness to broach the subject._

" _And nothing … My … My feet were stuck underneath the sheet, so I … I untucked them." She stammered a bit more, redness apparent on both of her cheeks. "I'm so sorry if I woke you up."_

_Carolina turned on herself, her head now placed on her pillow, while turning her back at her husband sight in the same occasion; allowing herself to finally take deep breaths into her lungs._

" _Carolina, please talk to me, sweetheart?" Klaus murmured near her left ear, while pushing his body in proximity of hers._

_**Well this wasn't helping much?** _ _She thought to herself, before opening her eyes widely, while feeling his hardness on her lower back._

" _Did I do something wrong last night? Was I inconsiderate to you? Please talk to me, Love?" He asked; tremors in his voice._

" _No… " She reassured him, while turning her head to buried her sight in his blue eyes. "You gave me pleasure." She added, shyly. "A lot of pleasure… I'm just terribly shy sometimes, nothing major though."_

" _Sometimes I forgot how … How sensible you are." He shook his head; uncomfortable._

" _You mean how unexperienced and innocent I am, don't you?" She pouted, adorably; while turning her head back to the other side._

" _No, no … Why would you say something like that?" He wondered, out loud; while tucking his head in the hollow of her left shoulder, before raising both of his hands from her waist to the heavenly curves of her breasts._

" _I don't know." Caroline shrugged. "I guess, I'm thinking that you could be disappointed of my youth or inexperience?" She added. "You have so much experience yourself, and you probably have known so many women?"_

" _Oh Carolina…" Klaus growled loudly; his lips sliding on the left side of her delicious neck. "Don't you know by now…How magnificent you are to me?" He murmured, while swallowing a lump in his throat. "I'm drawn to you, to your kindness, your purity … You're this amazing bright light in my darkness, you're everything that I'm not, and that I'll never be." He complimented her, while kissing her earlobe. "And I'm sexually attracted to you, like I've never been to any other woman before you, day to night, and night to day… That explains what you've questioned yourself, so innocently; a few minutes ago."_

" _I …You knew?" She asked, surprised; while turning her body and her sight back at him. "You most think I'm foolish?"_

" _No, you're not; you're just curious and eager to learn; I see a lot of my human self in you. And, I always know what you're thinking, I read you like a book." Klaus replied, a timid smile spreading on his lips; while slowly rubbing his hands on the length of her naked body. "Please talk to me; always … I want to know everything: your questioning, your hopes, and your worries, even about sex, promise me?" He whispered, before brushing her parted lips of a kiss._

" _I promise." She replied, while returning his smile; her forehead touching Klaus's._

" _I want you, I want you now…" He repeated, intensely; while lowering his hands on her lower back, the firm curves of her bottom, before sliding his heated lips on the valley between her breasts, leaving a trail of kisses on her silky skin._

_Carolina let out a moan of pleasure, while burying her hands on the thickness of his golden locks; her legs wrapping easily around his pelvis._

" _If you don't want a replay of last night, just tell me and I'll stop?" Klaus suggested, before raising his head and closing his eyes; while taking a grip on himself, to help him hold his sexual fire._

" _I want …" Carolina tried to formulate her sexual fantasy to her husband, the words being stuck in her throat._

" _What do you want, Love?" Klaus asked, worryingly; while sliding a strand of her blond hair behind her left ear._

" _I want to try something new." She finally confessed, redness reaching her cheeks._

" _Oh …" Klaus exclaimed; speechless and surprised. "Something you did not like previously? Ok, you care to share?"_

_God! In more than a thousand years on this planet, none of the women he had met had ever put him in such state of shyness._

" _It's… It's nothing fancy or anything…" She stammered, nervously. "I just wonder if it will be different if I place myself on top of you."_

_Klaus let out a sigh of relief and a smile spreading on his lips, with a sound of laughter._

" _You're mocking me?" She pouted, while losing her smile._

" _No, no… no, don't think that, please." He shook his head; while caressing the contour of his wife beautiful face. "I'm just relieved that you want to experiment a little bit more with me." He added, while strengthening his upper body in a sitting position; promptly grabbing Carolina by the waist to raise her on his lap, before slowly positioning his hard length at the humid entrance of her burning core._

_It's her who lowered her hips; slowly burying his rigidity in the deepness of her narrowed walls, while letting a few panting sounds out of her mouth. She slowly moved her pelvic in such ways to rub her private parts, while intensify her pleasure._

" _Oh Carolina…I don't deserve you." Klaus growled; while wrapping his arms around her trembling body; before raising his own hips to bury his length further inside, in their mutual path to orgasm._

* * *

" _Did she drink blood?" Alexay inquired the information to the maid._

" _Yes master; she drank a little bit, she is resting now." The young woman responded, politely and with a strong Russian accent; before closing the bedroom door behind her back._

_**Master** _ _… Damon winced at the title attribution; while hiding from both their sights._

" _Keep an eye on her; be certain that she'll nourish herself in the next few hours." Alexay ordered the young Russian woman; before walking by her side toward the other side of the manor._

_Damon took a last look at the empty corridor, before entering Maria's room; while closing the door silently behind his back._

" _Maria?" He murmured near the maid's head, while strengthening her body in a sitting position. "Wakeup for God sake, we don't have a lot of time in front of us. Snap out of it!"_

_Maria slowly raised her heavy eyelids; while staring at Damon through her blurry vision._

" _Mister Damon Salvatore, what, how … I mean, why are you here?" Maria stammered through her sentence, in total shock._

" _It's me who should ask you this question?" Damon replied to her questioning._

" _Ludvig Petrov … He kidnapped me." She responded to him._

" _That's what I thought, Maria Esther Ingrid … Whatever your first name is at the moment, but if I was you I would try the shorter version of your first name, you know if only to help the British government." He suggested; mocker. "I'm sorry, my dear, but we don't have time to chit-chat at the moment." He helped her rise on her legs. "Are you able to walk? You want me to give you blood?" He wondered, while bringing his own wrist near his mouth._

" _Yes, I'll be able to walk, and no, don't worry … I'll be fine with the blood." Maria informed, while nodding her head. "What is your plan, what are we going to do?" She asked more._

" _Escape, we're going to escape." Damon replied, while dragging the vampire woman on his heels._

_Granted he always have had a huge aversion for all of Esther's sons and that was the main reason he had helped Ludvig Petrov before… Well, that and the fact that he would have probably being found dead in an alley if he hadn't oblige to Pretrov's demand. But the amnesic woman had always been polite to him the few times he had presented himself to the Mikaelson's mansion in England/London, and he couldn't turn a blind eye or his back to her present abducted situation._

* * *

" _You're bright and early this morning?" Stefan Salvatore greeted Rebekah, while stepping on the terrace to reach a serving table, before pouring himself a cup of coffee. "I had forgotten how breathtaking the view of the marina was from this terrace."_

" _I couldn't sleep." Rebekah gave the simple explanation; while bringing her own cup to her lips. "Yes, it's truly beautiful." She added, evasively; while taking a few bites into her croissant._

" _You are still worrying about Maria, aren't you?" Stefan arched an eyebrow._

" _See that's the thing, Stefan; I know nothing about Klaus's father other than the fact that he was the man with whom my mother had an infidelity with. I don't know if he could hurt her or play a sick game with her." She rose on her legs, while grabbing the terrace guard rail with both hands. "And I know, you've told me that he wouldn't hurt Maria, because he has feelings for her." She added. "But, with our father, Mikael, we all know now how demented and perverted he can be, but at the end of the day; something in my heart is telling me that he wouldn't intentionally hurt her." Rebekah tried to explain to Stefan. "He made her mother amnesic, because he couldn't accept her betrayal; but he could have easily killed her, and he never did."_

" _Knowing Mikael; I don't know if it's reassuring or literally just a bomb timer ready to hit its zero and explode sooner than later." Stefan responded; while dropping his cup on the marble table._

" _Well thanks for the help, Salvatore." She sighed; while rolling her eyes to the blue Mediterranean sky._

" _I'm sorry, Rebekah; truth be told I'm not trusting either of them." Stefan replied; while reaching her standing position; before slowly sliding his opened palms from her wrists to her upper arms; his chin placed on top of her head. "You should try to relax." He whispered softly._

" _What are you doing?" The Original inquired; while opening her eyes widely, before swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _I'm rocking you in my arms." He explained; while closing his eyes. "Is it a problem?"_

" _It's … It is kind of unsettling, why would you do that?" She wondered out loud._

" _Why would I not?" Stefan replied; laughter in his voice._

" _Well, it's not like you like me very much, so … Why would you play this prince charming role, especially with me?" Rebekah wondered; while shrugging her shoulders._

" _Why do you think that I don't like you?" Stefan opened his eyes; while continuing to rock her, with his arms firmly wrapped around her waist. "It's ridiculous Rebekah; I'm offering you a moment of comfort, is this so bad of me?" He asked. "Does it bother you so much to have my arms around you?"_

" _Because you don't offer me comfort, usually; I'm suspicious of you, Salvatore. Don't make this "thing", something more than an attempt to have me lower my defense around you." She replied, while squirming uncomfortably under his touch._

" _Me, rocking you in my arms is essentially meant to calm you down, Rebekah; and make you forget for a few minutes all your worries about your mother. What other purpose could I have to help you, Rebekah; why can I get out of you by doing this?" Stefan pushed the woman at arm length; while narrowing his sight on her; both closed fists placed on each side of his waist. Now he was officially mad!_

" _You always have a hidden purpose, Salvatore." She raised her chin, arms crossed over her chest; in a pouting expression._

" _You got to be kidding me." Stefan passed a hand through his morning hair. "Is there any way to make you stop with this nonsense of yours?" He wondered; out loud._

" _No, if I want to talk and express myself, I'll talk and I'll express myself, and it's not you, Salvatore, who will stop…." Rebekah warned him, without being able to finish her sentence._

_The young vampire took a step forward; while cupping Rebekah's face with both hands, before crushing his manly lips on her trembling ones, under her loud cry of protestation._

" _Are you done talking now, Mikaelson?" Stefan mouthed the words on top of her trembling lips. "Are you ready to relax only for a few minutes?" He asked in a soft murmur. "And before you ask, this doesn't mean anything; it's just to help you relax. And, I have zero hidden purpose to kiss you, and it will be forgotten by both parties, like it never happened, deal?"_

" _Why? What will you do?" Rebekah asked; while burying her sight in Stefan's._

" _I'm going to kiss you… " Stefan replied; before nibbling on her bottom lips. "Again, and again, and again…For the next, let say … ten minutes." He added, a smile spreading on his lips; before deepening their embrace._

* * *

" _A witch, you mean like magical potions, pointed black hat and a broom?" Kol questioned Bonnie, teaser._

" _It's very funny!" Bonnie mumbled, angrily; between her teeth._

" _Oh come on, it's the best news ever!" He exclaimed; while grabbing both of her shoulders. "Now it becomes clearer why you've sensed my supernatural essence to begin with."_

" _Don't act like you did not sense yourself that I was one, I wouldn't believe you." Bonnie narrowed her mad glance on the Original._

" _Well, I had a good hunch, darling; but listen, owning a witch is a benediction from heaven or hell, which I couldn't care less from which side it's coming this time to tell you the truth." Kol grabbed his head with both hands; with a smile spreading on his lips. "God, I've scored high on this one!"_

" _I'm not a pet, Kol!" Bonnie protested; vehemently._

" _But you would be so cute with a little bow in your hair, and a diamond dog-collar." He winked, before being hit on his right upper arm. "Ouch! I'm joking."_

" _You don't own me, you own nothing of me, do you understand?" She poked his chest, with one straight finger. "And you're not scoring anything on this body!" She added; while sliding a hand in front of her, from head to toes._

" _Ok, ok … I articulated my thoughts wrongly, chill bewitched! But; Bonnie you're going to help us, you're a freaking blessing in disguise." He raised his closed right fist in the air, in a victory gesture._

" _No, I won't help you now or ever." She responded, uncomfortable; while turning her back to his sight, arms crossed over her chest._

" _You'll stand motionless, while Klaus's father will bring the supernatural world to its end by building a new empire of hybrids?" Kol exclaimed, in shock. "You can't be serious? I was … I was joking before Bonnie; believe me I have the most respect for the witches."_

" _I know nothing about Carolina's husband problem with her father." Bonnie shrugged. "I've been brought here against my will."_

" _I'll explain everything you need to know." Kol promised, while turning her around to face him. "We'll talk to Elijah, and see if you can do a locator spell for our mother."_

" _No." She shook her head, under strong nervous compulsions._

" _Why not for God sake, I promise we won't kill innocent victims, if this is what you're worrying about?" Kol asked, dumbfounded._

" _No!" She lashed out to his face, tears rolling on her cheeks. "I can't help you, because I'm not practicing magic anymore; I've put my power aside many years ago, when my grandmother died; and I promised myself to never use magic ever again in the future." She concluded, while pushing herself at arm length from his standing position; before storming out of the bedroom, under a loud slamming sound of the door._

" _Damn!" Kol mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; before hitting his right foot on the dresser; while passing a hand through his tangled hair. "That was real smooth, Mikealson, real smooth."_

* * *

" _When I'll sign you, you'll run as fast as you can toward the forest, ok?" Damon whispered near Maria's ears. "If ever I don't make it; go to the central station; in the locker number 368, you'll find all you need to reach Italy." He gave the information; while sliding a key in Maria's hands._

" _Italy, Milan… That is where my s… I mean my employers are?" Maria murmured, while sighing with relief; a smile spreading on her lips._

" _Yes." Damon affirmed._

_Maria nodded to the young vampire's suggestions; while waiting for his gestural order._

_They had hidden in the staff kitchen for a few minutes; where an opened backdoor could lead them to their freedom._

_Damon finally signed the patriarch woman; while pushing her toward the opened exit. Maria rushed in her vampire speed, while exiting for good Petrov's mansion; without turning her sight to take a single look behind her. It's when she reached bushes, where she kneeled to hide herself; that she realized that she had lost Stefan Salvatore's brother, he had obviously been captured again._

_ooOoo_

_Damon was lying on the kitchen floor, with a boot's heel pushed on his throat._

" _Care to explain yourself, earthworm?" The young, red hair, vampire woman asked him; with a strong Russian accent._

" _It's kind of difficult; considering you're cutting my throat and vocal cords at the same time." Damon responded, while grabbing the tip of her boot with both hands, but without being able to move it away from his throat._

_Obviously; that force of nature had been trained for this kind of situation; because he had not stood a chance against her combat skills in the 3 minutes 16 seconds he had fought against the vampire._

" _You should find yourself lucky that I did not kill the piece of shit that you are … Yet!" She spit on the floor, at a near inch of his face, at the same moment guards were entering the kitchen. "You fools, look! He was trying to escape." She titled her head toward Damon's lying position on the floor._

" _Who are you?" Damon asked, dumbfounded._

" _Anastassia Petrov." The red head replied, a sadistic rictus raising both sides of her lips. "Now, how do you want me to kill you?"_

" _You got to be kidding me!" He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; while closing his eyes. This woman vampire was Petrov's daughter? He should have known that playing the Good Samaritan to Maria would come back to haunt him._

* * *

_Mikael dodged, once more, the sword attack of his enemy, while bending his upper body, before rolling on the floor to retaliate._

" _You're losing your touch, Petrov!" Mikael mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _No, my dear friend; it's you who lost yours." Petrov responded, laughter in his voice._

_Alexay pushed the entrance doors of the combat room, while leading his rapid walking steps toward his master._

" _Petrov, can I have a word in private, please?" He nodded, respectfully; while making a reverence._

" _Don't you have eyes to see that I'm busy entertaining my dear friend; Mikael Mikaelson?" Ludvig replied to his right arm man, dryly; while hitting his sword with the one of his enemy._

" _It is urgent and of the most importance that I speak to you now." Alexay added, while rolling his eyes at the display of anger between both men._

" _Well, it'll have to wait! уходи!" Ludvig ordered Alexay to disappear from his sight in Russian._

" _Damon Salvatore helped your lady to escape." Alexay exclaimed, while raising his chin in the air. Maybe this would finally caught Petrov's attention?_

_Both men dropped their swords on the wooden floor, while turning their sights in direction of the soldier._

" _What did you just say?" Petrov asked, dumbfounded; while reaching Petrov's standing position. "How is this even possible?" He busted at his right arm man's face._

" _I'm not sure." Alexay lowered his head, repentant._

" _Oh please, entertain me, this is highly fascinating!" Mikael leaned his head back; while bursting into laughter; before grabbing his vest. "A young vampire was able to free Esther from your poisoned claws? I need to send him a thank you card."_

" _Shut up, Yngve!" Petrov pointed a finger in direction of his enemy, before turning his stare at Alexay. "Where is that rat now? I will kill him with my bare hands!"_

" _That's the thing, Petrov." Alexay mumbled, shyly. "Anastassia is here. She's the one who captured him before he could escape himself."_

" _черт побери!" Ludvig swore in Russian, while pacing back and forth. "Send a few men to search the premises of the manor, she can't be too far. And a few more at the train station and the airport…"_

" _On this amusing note, I'll leave you to your dysfunctional family; I don't see the need to make any kind of pact with you anymore, my dear Ludvig." Mikael grinned, while leading his walking steps toward the exit._

" _Don't be too cocky about the fact that I've lost a battle, Mikael; I intend to win the war!" Ludvig lashed out to his enemy._

" _And I'll be there to watch!" Mikael signed the Russian man with a hand gesture, smirk raising both sides of his lips. "Ta-ta!" He added; before storming out of the combat room._

* * *

" _Stop fighting the inevitable!" Mikael mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; while dragging the reticent woman toward the limousine. It had been easy for the Original patriarch to had found Esther's trail and drag her back to safety._

" _Let me go!" Maria busted to her ex-husband's face; while squirming underneath his grip of steel._

" _Oh for God sake, woman; you've always been such a taming of the shrew!" He added, while pushing her inside the vehicle; entering himself, before closing the passenger door._

" _Take us to the airport!" He ordered the chauffeur._

" _Oh this is great; I've been abducted by a sick demented man only to find myself held captive a second later, by a sicker one!" Maria exclaimed, while rubbing the bruises on her wrists._

" _Oh you're so melodramatic when you want to be, my dear!" Mikael replied, while rolling his eyes._

" _Don't tell me that you won't keep me captive for your own twisted game; I wouldn't believe you." She lashed out to his face._

" _My dear I've been married to you, I have no intention of keeping you as my prisoner, I'm everything but stupid!" Mikael replied; while shaking his head. "Once in a life time was enough for my taste." He added, with a sour expression._

" _Then what do you want from me?" Maria asked; at burned doublet._

" _I'm bringing you back to our children." Mikael responded; to the speechless woman._


	21. When the death is calling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story; that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

_**Italy – Milan, Mikaelson's estate… Early hours of the evening…** _

" _Be careful with your high heels shoes while descending those stairs, Katerina; it's an old house and they've seen better days." Elijah warned his wife; while taking a glance at the brunette; before presenting his opened right hand for her to hold it._

" _Ok; I'll watch my steps. How old is this house; did you purchase it a long time ago?" Katerina wondered, curiously; while interlacing her fingers with her husband's._

" _We bought it a couple of centuries ago. The house must be five hundred years old, or something around this age; I suppose." Elijah informed, shrugging; while descending the stairs, one by one._

" _Wow!" She opened her eyes widely. It was still hard for her to realize that her vampire husband was eternal._

" _Still hard for you to grasp the idea; isn't it?" Elijah noticed; while swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _That I have a husband older than the planet earth? Kind of…" She mocked; gently._

" _Be careful, woman!" He teased; winking._

" _Thank you for the Designer clothes and shoes by the way." Katerina thanked her husband, shyly; while descending by his side._

" _You're welcome; you're my wife, I want you to have everything that your heart desire." He replied; a smirk raising both sides of his manly lips. "Though the tenth pair of …"_

"… _Sandals weren't really necessary, I know." She finished Elijah's sentence. "But, they were red, and Chanel." She pleaded her case; top teeth biting into her bottom lip to hold her laughter._

" _And, most importantly…" Elijah commented; both feet suddenly immobilizing on a stair; before sliding both hands around her waist to push the young woman sideway on the wall. "It made you happy; and that is procuring me joy in my life, wife of mine." He whispered; his head leaning forward; while his lips found the delicious left curve of her neck._

" _It does?" Katerina asked, breathless; her hands buried in the longer locks, at the base of Elijah's neck._

" _Immensely, Katerina… How can you even doubt it for second?" Elijah questioned, while raising his head and sight; his right hand grabbing her chin to brush her parted lips of a kiss. "We need to go downstairs; or Isabella will kill us if we miss the "antipasto."". He winked, mockingly to his wife; under her speechless expression. "It means: appetizer." He informed her more._

" _Does that woman think of something else than drink and eat?" Katerina wondered out loud; while rolling her eyes. "Oh my God… That is not what I meant; it sounded like I'm not grateful of eating copious meals every day." She froze all her movement; while holding Elijah's walking pace._

" _Oh you're simply delightful, Katerina!" Elijah commented; while leaning his head back to burst into laughter. "Isabella is Italian; in Italy there are only three important things: good food, good wine and the most important: "amore"; if you stay in Italy; act as if you were Italian, and they'll love you." He winked, while reprising his descent. "Will your sister and my brother join us by the way?" He suddenly inquired; while lowering his head to hide his pernicious smile._

" _I … I'm not sure if they'll be present? Like I've previously told you, she was tired and they were both taking a nap all afternoon." She lied, through her teeth. "That is why I choose clothes for her behalf, you remember, don't you?"_

" _What you really mean is that they were out and about all afternoon in the city of Milan, even if I specifically ordered them to stay put in the house?" Elijah commented, reaching the last stair; before turning his body around to face the brunette, arms crossed over his chest._

" _You … You knew?" Katerina stammered; while rubbing nervously her hands together; her sight now kept down on the marble floor._

" _Katerina, you think I don't know my own brother after passing more than a millennium in his company?" Elijah arched an eyebrow; both closed fists placed on each side of his waist. "Plus, you're probably the worst liar that I've ever met. Your nose is doing that "thing" when you lie." He commented; while raising his right hand and touching the bone over his own._

" _My nose is not doing such a thing!" She protested vehemently, arms crossed over her chest; while, at the same time, wrinkling the skin on top of her nose._

" _Of course it's not." Elijah replied, laughter in his voice. "Now, come, the others are waiting for us."_

" _Yes, Master." Katerina rolled her eyes. "Should I bow down?"_

" _Do you want to bow down? I wouldn't mind." The Original shrugged; teaser._

" _Иди к черту!" She replied in her natal language; while wishing "hell" on her husband._

" _Well that is music to my ears." He smirked; while holding one of the French doors to invite the young woman to pass the threshold._

* * *

_**Russia – Moscow, Ludvig's manor …** _

_Damon suddenly regained consciousness when the cold water splashed on his face. He was chained like an animal with both of his wrists solidly attached to the bricks wall of what seemed to be a dungeon._

" _Wow! If the purpose was to wake me up, just know that I'm fully awake as of now!" He commented, while spitting water on the cement floor; his sight suddenly taking a glimpse of the redhead beauty in front of his eyes… Ludvic's daughter!_

" _It's about time that you wake up." The Russian beauty commented; while hitting the handle of a leather whip on her left hand. "I was starting to get bored by my lonely some."_

" _Well, we certainly wouldn't want that, would we?" He replied; with a sour smile plastered on his lips._

" _Usually, I like my toys to always be ready for my own enjoyment and entertainment." Anastassia commented._

" _Your toys… I'm one of your toys now? Should I feel blessed of such honor?" The young vampire winced._

" _My father had no more use for you, especially after you've helped the love of his life escape from his mansion." She commented; while sliding the tip of her long painted red nails on the fabric of his opened man shirt; before slowly and painfully scratching the first layer of his skin until the blood started to drip on his chest. "He was really, really not happy about that."_

" _Manor technicality, really; if I could talk to the "master" of this humble home and explain my point of view, perhaps he would change his mind?" Damon asked, hopeful; while wincing with pain when she entered all her nails in his chest._

" _And because my daddy loves me so much; he gave your carcass to me as a gift, for my own enjoyment. Therefore I can basically do what I want with your body." She shrugged, disregarding Damon's say; while pulling her nails out, before slowly licking the blood from her fingers… One by one …_

" _Well, remind me to send him a thank you card, would you?" Damon mocked; dryly._

" _I want to whip you until your blood will spread on the bricks walls." Anastassia leaned her body and head near Damon's, her lips whispering the words near his right ear._

" _You're full of bullshit, and I'm calling it now." Damon murmured back to his female assailant; while making her startled at his say._

" _And you're an arrogant bastard!" Anastassia busted to his face; before grabbing his chin and drowning her green like emerald sight in his. "You have a big mouth, Damon Salvatore; I could easily rip your flesh into a thousand of pieces; before giving your limbs to the werewolves for breakfast."_

" _Oh but you misunderstood me, Russian princess; I'm not debating your torture skills; actually, I'm sure that you're quite competent in that area of expertise." Damon mouthed the words at a few inches of her red parted lips. "It's the all_ _ **my father loves me so much**_ _part that I highly doubt. He's about to meet his son Niklaus for the first time; I would bet that you took the backburner in his heart, am I right?"_

_Anastassia took a few steps back, her sight narrowed on her prey, with her chin raised as a confrontational gesture. She started to stretch her whip with both hands; while pacing back and forth in front of her prisoner._

" _Are you talking about your own life, Damon Salvatore? Weren't you always second in your father's eyes; just after his beloved son Stefan of course?" She replied, dryly; a pernicious smile spreading on her lips._

" _I see you took some information on me?" Damon winced; while biting the inside of his cheeks. "Maybe we have more in common than you think… Anastassia?"_

" _I like to learn all there is to know about my new boy toy." She replied, sadistically; a grin blessing her lips. "And I doubt we have anything in common, Damon." She added; before hitting the leather of her whip on the cement floor._

" _Well, isn't this fun?" Damon commented; while swallowing a lump in his throat. "But thinking about it now, maybe we could have a new arrangement? A beautiful woman like you could have other needs that I could perhaps fulfil?" He raised one eyebrow, suggestively; hopeful that his plan would work. "After all, women find me easy on the eyes?"_

" _Keep talking "boy toy"?" Anastassia suggested; while sliding her fiery sight on the length of Damon's body._

* * *

_**Italy – Mikaelson's estate …** _

" _Are we interrupting?" Elijah cleared his throat with a subtle cough sound; while stepping on the opened terrace, with Katerina walking on his heels. "Maybe we could come back at an ulterior time?" He added; a small rictus raising the left side of his lips._

" _No, don't you dare brother! You're like the salvation that I was waiting for all day." Rebekah busted out loud, while pushing herself at arm length of Stefan's standing position. "Salvatore is in the weirdest sensitive mood today, it's like having a poodle that's following me everywhere; while licking my ankles at every chance that he gets." She added, wincing._

" _You do realize that overall I prefer you with your mouth close; don't you?" Stefan replied, teaser, to the Original blonde. "That way you can at least be considered half decent to the rest of the world."_

" _You do realize that overall I prefer you at miles of distance from me, don't you?" Rebekah replied, tit for tat; a smirk spreading on her lips._ _ **Forget about the morning kiss, Rebakah; forget about it**_ _…She secretly and silently thought to herself._

" _A joust between my adorable sister and Salvatore; count me in!" Kol exclaimed, while stepping on the terrace. "And a poodle… Well; that is probably the exact image I had of you in my head, the first time we've met; Salvatore." The Original added; while leading his walk toward the service table; before grabbing a bottle of water. "I think it was because of this huge curly bang raised on top of your forehead. You know if you put a bow in it, it would be kind of adorable?" He added, mocker; while taking a gulp. "Between you and I, mate; it must cost you a fortune in hair products?"_

" _Real funny, Kol; I'm actually laughing… but internally." Stefan replied; wincing._

" _How was your day sister-in-law?" Rebekah asked Katerina; while turning her head toward the brunette, who kept herself in the background scene of the family quarrel._

" _You're acknowledging my presence? I'm touched. Спасибо Богу!" Katerina thanked God, mockingly, in her native language; while joining her hands as a prayer sign. "Should I bow down gracefully in front of the princess?"_

" _Oh no, God has nothing to do with it all; you're obviously a part of the Mikaelson family now; a weird part, considering that you're human, insipid and ordinary; the same goes for your sister, by the way. But both of my eldest brothers have always been coo-coo in the heads, so I can't, in all good faith; blame you for their lack of good judgement." Rebekah shrugged, apologetically._

" _Cукa!" Katerina insulted the blonde Original; while pointing a finger at her sister-in-law; being suddenly retained by Elijah who grabbed his wife's right arm to hold her immobile._

" _Rebekah, behave yourself sister; or you'll have to respond to me!" Elijah exclaimed; while turning on himself; both closed fists placed on each side of his hips. "And as for you, Katerina; don't you stoop to my sister level of impoliteness!"_

" _I'm your wife, I'm not your slave; I don't need your permission to express my say to your sister's face!" Katerina raised her chin and narrowed her sight on Elijah; who kept his sight locked with her in a silent combat of power. "Furthermore, I'm a Russian; I can't be tamed!"_

" _Oh, she got fire, Elijah!" Rebekah smiled; proudly. "If you continue to play this awesome feminist against my chauvinistic brother, you'll start to grow on me, sister-in-law." She added; while addressing a smile to Katerina._

" _Ouch!" Kol exclaimed; with a laughter. "Damn! This is better than the last boxing match I've watched on TV a week ago. What do you think; Salvatore; it's kind of awesome, no?" He added, mockingly. "Now just imagine the both of them rolling into a mud puddle; it would be even better. No offence, sister-in-law, but you have a nice butt."_

" _I say right back at you, Kol." Katerina crossed her arms in front of her chest; raised chin to accompany her posture. "What?"_

" _What? You need to ask?" Elijah raised both eyebrows at his wife; while trying to hide his smile._

" _Well, when I'm not nice to your siblings you tell me off like a child; and when I'm nice you do the same." Katerina pleaded her case, before passing her tongue to her husband, to which he leaned his head back to burst into laughter._

" _Oh the joy of vacation time, in a remote location, with the Mikaelson family." Stefan commented; his right hand striking his closed eyelids._

" _I know aren't you the luckiest?" Kol smirked; while elbowing the young vampire._

" _Oh look at your new sandals sister-in-law! Sono Belle!" Rebekah exclaimed, speechless. "I'm officially jealous!"_

" _They are precious, aren't they?" Katerina smiled, while approaching the sitting position of Rebekah; before handing one to the blonde vampire._

" _Look at the leather!" Rebekah commented; while turning the shoe in her hand._

" _Female; the strangest species you could find. One minute they were fighting; the next they are exchanging pleasantries?" Kol commented; while shaking his head in disbelief._

" _For once, Mikaelson; I'm agreeing with you." Stefan commented; speechless._

" _Don't make it a habit, it feels kind of weird, Salvatore." Kol winced; mockingly. "Why are we summoned in here, anyway, Elijah?" He added; questioning._

" _We are here for Isabella appetizers and soft drinks." Elijah shrugged. "You know that she is very set on etiquette and "savoir faire", Kol." He added; smirking._

" _Where's Bonnie?" Kol suddenly questioned, with raised eyebrows; wile scattering the terrace._

" _I thought she was with you?" Rebekah commented; while turning her sight toward her brother._

" _No, she told me that she would be with the "girls" all afternoon, I figured she would be with you!" Kol replied, suddenly agitated._

" _Perhaps; Miss Bennett went sightseeing the city with your brother and his wife." Elijah commented; while trying to hide his amusement._

" _What do you mean sightseeing?" Rebekah busted. "I've been cocked up in this villa; under your specific orders, with my poodle as only companion, and you're telling me that Klaus and Carolina were out and about in the city?" She rose on her legs, pouting; while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _Hey! I resent the companionship remark!" Stefan pointed in direction of the blonde vampire._

" _Rebekah; stop your whining, for God sake; you're not a child anymore!" Elijah rolled his eyes to the Mediterranean sky. "You know that your brother Klaus can't be cocked up more than a few hours in the same place. And if you have more questions, ask my delightful wife."_

" _That is unfair!" Katerina commented; while narrowing her sight on her husband._

" _And who lied through her teeth to her husband; mm?" Elijah pointed toward his wife, teaser._

" _This villa was a haven before you all came back to disturb the peace; bon Dio! Now eat the appetizers; and drink in silence!" Isabella stepped on the terrace; while carrying a platter in her hands._

" _You're right, Isabella; please forgive our bad manners." Elijah nodded; apologetically._

" _Let me help you carrying the platter." Stefan suggested; before grabbing it from the maid's hands._

" _Oh Bello; you're such an adorable man!" Isabella smiled to the angels; while caressing Stefan's right cheek. "And you!" Isabella pointed toward the young Russian. "You did not finish your pasta at lunch time, you did not like them?"_

" _No it's not that, it's just that I can't eat that much." Katerina mumbled, between her teeth; while keeping her sight down. "Elijah?"_

" _Nope, I will not help you, Katerina." He replied; smirking. "You're this stubborn Russian woman, you remember? You don't need me to protect you against our delightful Isabella." He added; while blessing the maid of a kiss on her forehead._

" _Fuck that witch, I've specifically told her to stay put! I need to find her now!" Kol suddenly exclaimed, while passing a hand through his tangled hair, before storming out of the terrace._

" _Did he just say "Witch"?" Rebekah raised her sight to the sudden immobile and speechless auditory._

* * *

" _Non posso, I can't help you." The Italian woman shook her head and waved a hand in negation in front of Bonnie's sight; while keeping the entrance door of her villa half-opened. "I don't even know how you were able to get this address? You need to go now." She tried to close the door on Bonnie's nose._

" _Oh please, just hear me out, Aurora; isn't it?" Bonnie tried to plead her case; while retaining the door with her right foot. "My grandmother kept a sort of grimoire; inside of that book there were a few names and addresses; the majority of them were located in Italy."_

" _Yes, my name is Aurora Russio Bianchi." She nodded, in approval. "I'm one of the descendants of Rosa Russio Bianchi. My grandmother used magic; and she had to pay of her life for her sins against the church."_

" _It's a beautiful name." Bonnie commented. "Please hear me out? I would have never been able to probably travel to Italy, and here I am by a following of weird circumstances… I just … I just want to learn more about my … Heritage."_

" _So did I, a few years ago; but I'm telling you there is nothing to learn." Aurora replied. "This is a modern time now; the Vatican banished all kind of witchcraft and Satanism." She whispered in a lower voice to Bonnie._

" _Oh my God; I don't vision myself using either of those magical stuffs." Bonnie winced, in disdain. "I just want to learn more about my grandmother's gift."_

" _Are you using yourself?" Aurora asked in a low murmur._

" _I'm not using magic at the moment, no." Bonnie shook her head. "It kind of scared me when the power manifested itself without my full knowledge of it."_

" _Good! Then keep it that way and stay away from magic!" Aurora warned; before closing her entrance door on Bonnie's speechless expression._

" _Oh no… Damn it!" Bonnie lowered her forehead on the wood panel; while taking a few deep breaths into her lungs. She finally buried a piece of paper in Aurora's mail box with her present location written on it. Maybe the young Italian woman would change her mind?_

* * *

_Bonnie raised her sight and saw Kol standing in front of her walking path; at a few feet of distance from her._

" _Going somewhere, darling?" He asked the young woman; while keeping his sight narrowed on her_

" _Oh for God sake how did you find me? You put a tracking device on my clothes or what?" Bonnie shrugged and rolled her eyes, while turning her back to the Original; before fast walking on the sidewalks filled with tourists._

_They were in a busiest, shopping street; filled with Italian boutiques and little Cafés; where a lot of tourists and residents were enjoying an "apero" before dinner time._

" _If you think that being in this busy street, filled with tourists; will forbid me to put your ass on my shoulder; while carrying you back to the villa; you're sadly mistaking." Kol shouted; while keeping the pace behind her heels._

" _Would you just lower your voice, for God sake?" She replied, while keeping a rapid walk. "And stop following me like a dog!"_

" _Ok, I'll carry you instead then?" She suddenly heard the hoarse voice whispering into her right ear; while feeling two strong arms encircling her waist; before being carried in Kol's arms a second later._

" _Oh my God, put my down you asshole!" Bonnie screamed from the top of her lungs, her legs kicking in all directions._

" _Who's making a scene now, darling?" Kol mocked; while retracing his steps on the sidewalk; under the speechless expression of pedestrians and customers sitting on a few café terraces. "We are newlyweds -_ _ **Sposo**_ _!" He shouted the explanation in both languages; a smirk raising both corners of his lips._

" _Ah, sposo - amore!" They all exclaimed; while raising their glasses in the air._

" _Put me down!" She ordered; repeatedly. "Married to you? I would prefer to stick needles in my eyes!"_

_Kol had bifurcate his walking path from the sidewalk to a quiet paved alley; before granting the young woman of her wish; while lowering her down on her legs and feet._

" _Oh, you have no right to treat me this way, no right!" She pointed a finger underneath Kol's nose._

" _Stop the Diva tantrum, would you?" Kol pushed Bonnie's hand away. "You're a stupid woman, Bonnie Bennet, wondering around in a foreign city that you don't even know; while knowing perfectly that you could be kidnapped by Ludvig's men, if ever we are located; why are you taking the chances? I've told you to stay put, but you purposely decided to go against my orders?" He pointed a finger underneath her nose._

" _Who's the Diva Queen now?" She pushed his finger away from her face. "You're not my keeper, Kol. You're the brother-in-law of Carolina; a new friend that I've met at the art school back in London."_

" _You must know that you're getting on my last nerves like no other woman before you, do you?" Kol leaned his body and head near Bonnie's._

" _Right back at you, pal!" She crossed her arms in front of her chest._

" _Bonnie, this isn't a joke; we're hiding because the psychopath biological father of my brother is tracking us, what part of this don't you understand?" Kol grabbed his head with both hands._

" _I know; and I'm thankful that your brother Elijah took me underneath his protection wing; but … But I had stuff to do, things to check while being forced to stay in Italy." Bonnie replied, redness reaching her cheeks; while lowering her sight to the paved alley._

" _What things? What stuff?" Kol wondered, suddenly; while narrowing his sight on the young woman. "Witch stuff? It's that, isn't it? Are you checking a lead in Milan about your magic power? You can talk to me; I swear you can, Bonnie." He expressed his openness; with opened arms._

" _Try to grasp this, Kol: It's not of your damn business!" Bonnie replied to the Original; while waving a finger in front of his sight._

" _You're waving a finger at me, once again; and this when I'm only trying to help you." He mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; closed fists placed on each side of his waist. "And this is without counting the numerous times I've saved your human life."_

" _You waved yours under my nose the first!" She replied; in rage._

" _You know what, Bonnie; you just need to shut up for a second or two." Kol suggested; dryly._

" _Oh yah and you want to make me, I suppose?" She raised her chin; confrontationally._

" _Darling; if you want me to kiss you, all you have to do is ask, no begging required." He added; smirking._

" _What, in your dream if you …." Bonnie started her sentence, before feeling Kol's lips crashing on hers, under her loud cry of protestation._

_Kol grabbed both of Bonnie's upper arms in a firm, but gentle grip; while pulling the young woman on his muscular chest, his hands slowly sliding down on her hips, while deepening his kiss by nibbling softly on her bottom lip. She let out a few more cries of protestation; before finally raising her hands on his chest, upward at the base of his neck to bury her fingers in his long locks. He pushed her on a bricks wall placed behind her back; before grabbing her butt to raise the young woman in his arms; her legs soon wrapped around his waist._

" _We… We need to go back; you said so … I mean, you said so yourself." She mouthed the words in top of his lips. "This, whatever … Whatever this is … It's a bad idea."_

" _Mm… In a minute…" Kol whispered, while leaving a trail of kisses on the left side of Bonnie's neck; before brushing her lips of additional kisses._

* * *

" _Shush, or they'll hear us!" Carolina giggled, nervously; while entering on the tip of her toes inside the villa; her hybrid husband on her heels._

" _You've been a very bad girl; Carolina." Klaus whispered; while closing the entrance door on its arch. "You sneaked out, you must know that, Love?" He questioned; his hands sliding on each side of her waist; while softly pushing the young woman toward the wall behind her back._

" _You suggested showing me the city of Milan, the sweet flavor of Italy you've said; I was just an innocent victim of your manipulative mind." Carolina raised her blushing cheeks and chin to drown her sight in Klaus's. "And if Elijah is angry; it will be all on your shoulders." She pointed a finger upward on his chest._

" _I've actually seen a bit more than the city of Milan; the overall view was kind of delightful." He commented, teaser; while lowering his fiery sight on Carolina's mini skirt, with his hands sliding on her hips, down on her thighs; before slowly raising the hem of the fabric._

" _Don't!" I've been embarrassed enough all day!" She complained; while pushing his hands away and the fabric down. "It was nice of Isabella to offer me a few pieces of her daughter's clothes, previously left in the villa after a visit; but she forbid to mention that she was way taller than I am."_

" _You see me, complaining, Love?" Klaus teased, while raising his right hand to caress her hair; dimples blessing both of his cheeks. "Though if the cleavage of the borrowed t-shirt had been lower than it is now I would have suggested walking in the city, topless." He mocked; openly._

" _Придурки!" Carolina cursed him of a bad word in her natal language; while hitting her closed left fist on his muscular chest._

" _Oh the big bad word in Russian, I must be in trouble if … If my wife is starting to curse me?" Klaus mocked; while grabbing Carolina's wrist; before leaning forward, his lips at a near inch of hers. "Kiss me?"_

" _No, you're mocking me … No kiss!" She turned her head in confrontational gesture; a smile raising the left corner of her lips._

" _You're forbidding your own husband of your marital obligations toward him?" Klaus raised both eyebrows, teasingly; while questioning her._

" _I could forbid him of even more if he continues to mock me." Carolina held her chin up; while feeling his lips slide on the tender curve of her neck._

" _But, you would be missing on so much pleasure?" He added; while nibbling on her right earlobe._

" _More importantly, so would you!" She replied, raising their game of a few notes; while pushing him at arm length, before placing herself behind a sitting bench placed in the hall of the villa._

" _Are you playing hide and seek with me, Carolina?" Klaus narrowed his fiery sight on his wife; while taking a few calculated steps toward her standing position._

" _What if I am? What will you do about it?" She inquired; while biting into her bottom lip._

" _Don't bite into your bottom lip, it drives me crazy, sweetheart; and you perfectly know it." Klaus warned her. "I carried your sandals all day; you should slip your beautiful feet into them before Elijah or Isabella sees you walking bare feet in the villa." He raised the flat leather pair of Egyptian sandals in front of her sight._

" _I don't want to slip my feet into my sandals; I perfectly fine the way I am." Carolina shrugged. "I want to play hide and seek; and I want you to catch me!" She added; while rushing into the staircase._

" _Aren't you an impertinent little thing today?" Klaus teased, while throwing the sandals on the marble floor; before rushing in his vampire speed to catch his wife; under her loud cries of surprise. "Got you!" He exclaimed, proudly._

" _It's not fair! You're faster than me!" She giggled, joyfully; while raising her hands on the hybrid's chest to reach the base of his neck._

" _Now kiss me!" He ordered once more, before crushing his lips on the young Russian who let a moan of pleasure out of her mouth, at her husband sudden display of affection._

_Klaus growled loudly; while lowering both hands on the delicious hollow of her lower back; lower on the delicious curve of her bottom; before grabbing two hands full of her tender flesh; his tongue invading the delicious erotic land of her mouth._

" _We need… We need to go join the others, or… Or they will start asking questions about our whereabouts." Caroline stammered through her sentence; while mouthing the words on her husband lips._

_He suddenly left the erotic pleasure of his wife mouth; while reprising the descent from her neck to her cleavage. His sight kept on the blue vein that was pumping her red elixir underneath the tip of his tongue. Darkish lines suddenly appeared around his eyes… He needed to taste her blood; he needed to taste Carolina now!_

" _You're right…" Klaus closed his eyes, trying to get a hold on his dark impulses, on the beast emerging inside of him; before pushing himself at arm length of too much temptation; his right hand passing through the thickness of his tangled curls in a sudden nervous gesture. "And I need to…I need to nourish myself."_

" _Did I do something wrong?" Carolina asked, shyly; while pulling her t-shirt down on her chest._

" _No, you did nothing wrong, never doubt yourself in my company, Carolina." Klaus replied, nervously; keeping his sight down; while swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _If you want … You can … I mean you could take my blood?" She offered, timidly; while handing her right wrist to the hybrid._

_Klaus lowered his sight on the delicate porcelain skin; blue veins showing translucently; with the beats of her heart echoing in his ears._

" _You should never offer me your blood, you hear me!" He lashed out at the young woman; while grabbing both of her wrists forcefully._

" _Loud and clear, you don't need to yell, I'm not deaf!" Carolina startled, tears filling her eyes; while pulling on her arms to free herself from Klaus's grip of steel._

" _I'm not yelling, Carolina; you … You don't even understand what this could entitle if I would drink your blood." Klaus tried to explain; while pacing back and forth on one of the stairs. "Could you grasp that I'm trying to keep you safe?"_

" _Fine, be this way; push me aside because you are, once again, refusing to see the reality." She busted; while raising her chin and sight._

" _What reality is that, Love?" He demanded, his chest rising up and down._

" _The reality …" Carolina tried to respond, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath into her lungs. "The reality is that for us to stay married and have a chance to stay as such you'll have to turn me as a vampire eventually." She confessed, humbly; before lowering her sight._

" _Wow! What a speech; I'm actually touched by it." They both heard a hoarse male voice exclaim, soon followed by a clapping hands sound. They finally turned their heads toward the intruder; only to realize that it was Mikael Mikaelson that was standing over the threshold of the parlor room. "But, don't let me interrupt you my dear, go on." The cruel man suggested, mockingly, with a hand gesture toward Carolina; while leaning his left shoulder on the arch door._

* * *

_The acute sound of furniture hitting the villa's floor interrupted abruptly the quietness of the terrace._

" _What is that racket?" Rebekah exclaimed; while rising on her two legs._

" _Stefan!" Elijah ordered promptly; before rushing in his speed inside the villa; with the vampire close on his heels._

" _What is happening?" Katerina asked the blonde vampire; her heart pounding loudly in her chest. "You think it could be Petrov's men?"_

" _I don't know, you stay here, Katerina; I'll check it out!" Rebekah suggested; while pushing the young woman toward the guard rail of the terrace._

" _No, I won't stay here, I'll go with you." Katerina replied, firmly; while grabbing the Original left forearm._

" _Damn you're stubborn… You grow more and more on me!" Rebekah exclaimed; while storming inside the villa; with her sister-in-law on her heels._

* * *

" _Come at me boy! I've been waiting for this joust for a long time now." Mikael shouted; while rising on his legs from his falling position on the floor, before passing the back of his right hand over the trail of blood running on his chin._

" _You can come at me as much as you want Mikael; but you stay away from Carolina!" Klaus pointed one finger toward his step-father._

" _Or you'll do what? What will my bastard son do to me?" Mikael exclaimed; before rushing full speed toward Klaus._

_It took a fraction of second for Elijah and Stefan to separate both assailants; while pushing them at arm length on opposite sides of the room._

" _What are you doing here, father?" Elijah lashed out; while maintaining his right forearm on Mikael's throat._

" _Is this a way to greet your father, Elijah?" Mikael mumbled, angrily; between his teeth._

* * *

" _What is going on?" Rebekah asked Carolina; while reaching the young woman in the entrance hall._

" _Are you ok?" Katerina asked her sister; while sliding an arm around her sister's shoulders. "What is happening?"_

" _I'm ok." Carolina nodded, nervously. "I think your father is here?"_

" _What?" Rebekah exclaimed, while turning her head toward the parlor room; at the same moment that Bonnie and Kol were entering the premises._

" _Wow! Why do I smell trouble?" Kol asked his sister on the get go; with a raised eyebrow._

" _You smell it, because "trouble" is here." She replied; dryly. "Mikael is here."_

" _Shit!" Kol swore between his teeth; while passing over the threshold of the parlor room, the rest of the group following close on his heels. "Well, I've certainly was not aware that we were scheduled to have a family dinner with our beloved patriarch?" He questioned, loudly; both hands placed on each side of his waist._

" _That is because he came uninvited." Elijah replied, dryly; while retaining his father on the wall._

" _Let me go, Stefan!" Klaus ordered his friend; while wincing with disdain at the sight of his step-father. "I want to finish him up."_

" _Well, my pal Klaus; not to point out the obvious; but the asshole can't be killed." Stefan replied._

" _And this is a polite way to speak of me, young foolish vampire?" Mikael asked; dryly._

" _I'm sorry, are you talking to me? Should I care?" Stefan asked, teaser; before turning his head toward the patriarch. "So disappointing to you that I don't give a fuck I suppose?"_

" _You are all fools, and you're about to swallow your mislead pride very soon." Mikael added; in rage._

" _I really doubt it!" Elijah busted to his father face._

" _Mister Elijah, as much as a part of me would like for you to strangle him once in for all; please let him go?" They all heard the female voice requesting the Original, before turning their heads toward the intruder; all standing speechless and immobile under the unexpected arrival._

" _Mother, is it you?" Elijah exclaimed, in shock._

" _Maria?" Rebekah, Katerina and Carolina called, simultaneously, the maid's name._

" _You're back?" Elijah added; still motionless._

" _Yes, I'm back." Maria nodded, gracefully, with her hands crossed over her chest; a smile spreading on her lips._


	22. When death is calling - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important writer's note:
> 
> This present second part chapter is tackling the abuse of power subject; and unfortunate incident/accident that could trigger strong mixed emotions and sadness to readers.

_**Italy – Milan, Mikaelson's estate …** _

" _Boss; are you ok?" Elijah's right arm man, George, asked; while storming through an adjacent door inside the parlor room, with a few guards on his heels._

" _I'm fine, George; everything is under control." Elijah promptly informed, with a hand gesture._

" _I see; in that case we'll let you and … Mrs. Maria … You're back?" George exclaimed, in shock; while turning his sight toward the woman placed underneath the arch door._

" _Good day; George." Maria nodded; respectfully; before lowering her sight and flushed cheeks._

" _I'm happy to have you back… I mean we all are, of course." George stammered through his sentence, before lowering his own sight to the floor._

" _Oh for God sake, can we skip the romantic exchange between your bodyguard and my ex-wife?" Mikael winced, in disdain._

_Elijah narrowed his sight on his father, before releasing the pressure of his forearm placed over his throat; while taking a few steps back._

" _Secure all entrances on this estate, would you?" The Original gave the order to George; while passing his right hand over his face._

" _Understood" George nodded, respectfully; before retracing his steps out of the parlor room, with the two gorilla men on his heels._

" _Stefan, let my … I mean would you let Mister Klaus go?" Maria gently ordered the young vampire._

_The hybrid was released from his friend's grip a second later under his mother's order._

" _Try to calm your rage; would you?" Stefan advised his friend; while releasing him and mouthing the words; to which Klaus nodded in agreement._

" _Maria?" Carolina exclaimed; before throwing herself in the woman's arms._

" _Mrs. Carolina, my dear child, I'm so glad you're safe." Maria exclaimed, emotional; while closing her eyes and hugging the young woman near her heart; before softly pushing the young woman at arm length. "You visited the city of Milan? You have redness of fresh air on your cheeks; it's suiting your carnation, beautifully." She commented; while cupping Carolina's face. "Mrs. Katerina?" She suddenly turned toward the brunette; who smiled timidly to the maid._

" _I'm so happy that you're back, Maria; I've worried sick about you." Katerina confessed; happy tears filling her eyes._

" _And you have new shoes?" Maria winked at the young Russian; mockingly. "Your husband threated you well as I can see?" She added; before turning her sight toward a petite brunette that was standing near Kol's standing position._

" _Hi, I'm Bonnie Bennett; I've heard a lot about you, all good I can assure you." The young woman greeted Maria, politely, while shaking her hand. "I was kind of mixed up in this in a weird way that would probably take a long time to explain… And I believe it's not the right time to chat about it, now."_

" _Aren't we all mixed up in this?" Maria replied, fatalistic. "It's nice to meet you Miss Bennett." She added, before turning her glance toward her two remaining children. "Miss Rebekah; Mister Kol … It's nice to see you both." She nodded; politely._

_Rebekah took a step back; while rubbing her hands nervously together… What was she supposed to do? Jump into the arms of a woman who should have been a mother to her all these past years, but who had not filled those shoes for so long? It's very unexpectedly that Kol interlaced his fingers with the ones of his sister to give her courage._

" _Do you remember, Maria? I mean who you are?" Rebekah questioned; uncomfortably._

" _I have no memories coming back at me at the moment, but I do know what my place used to be in this family." She nodded, redness reaching her cheeks; head kept down. "It's kind of awkward for me too; if it's any consolation for the both of you." Maria commented; a timid smile spreading on her lips._

_Kol nodded to her say, but they both preferred to stay silent after her say. Slow steps would be necessary to make a deeper connection with their mother._

" _Ok…" Mikael sighed loudly and in desperation; while stroking his eyelids. "Though this family reunion is highly touching, and probably worthy of me crying in my handkerchief; can we move on from all the drama touchy feelings, it's making me nauseous."_

" _You know, that is actually funny, Mikael; considering that it's your presence that is making me nauseous." Stefan winced; while pointing in the patriarch direction._

" _You impertinent, disrespectful fool; do you know to whom you're addressing yourself to?" Mikael took a step in Stefan's direction; before being hold immobile by Elijah with a firm grip on his right upper arm._

" _This is my home, my guests, my way; father!" Elijah mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; his sight narrowed on his father. "You're behaving accordingly or it will be my pleasure to throw you out, am I clear?"_

" _Crystal clear, son…" Mikael replied; wincing._

" _Someone care to explain what all of this sudden change of heart of our dearest father entitled?" Kol asked, while narrowing his sight on the said one._

" _Of course, I'm sorry; I should have explained everything the moment I'd walked-in and saw that you were all present." Maria presented her apologies, humbly. "Mikael Mikaelson, your father." She started explaining, with a dry tone of voice; while taking a deep breath into her lungs. "He found me on the side of the route in Moscow; the day I'd managed to escape, Ludgiv Petrov's manor." She informed them all._

" _Mikael Mikaelson? Really, so now you're calling me with my full name, my dear? No more little pet names like you used to murmur softly into my ears." Mikael mocked; while his walking steps lead him toward the bar._

" _Ewwww…" They all exclaimed, disdainfully; with sour expressions._

" _You must have been seriously drunk the day you've dreamed that scenario, Mister Mikaelson." Maria mumbled, angrily; between her teeth._

" _Where's my father now…" Klaus took a few steps to face his mother. "… Maria?"_

" _The day I was abducted from our house … What I mean is of course from your manor in London, he brought me to Russia; in the city of Moscow. He's living in a huge manor there, with an army of guards at his disposal." She explained._

" _Could it be where you've met him in the past?" Elijah asked, while turning his sight toward his wife._

" _It could be." Katerina shrugged. "I couldn't say, I was blindfolded when I was brought to the event that he was hosting, but I remember the house was prestigious."_

" _How did you manage to escape from his claws?" Klaus wondered; while drowning his sight in his mother's._

" _Well; it was a strange meeting and a follow up of stranger circumstances." Maria explained; while nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _Salvatore! If I was you I would take some notes; this is about to become highly informative and interesting for you." Mikael smirked; while pouring to himself a glass of scotch._

" _What is he talking about?" Stefan asked Maria._

" _Well, your brother, Damon Salvatore was the one who helped me escape." Maria informed the young vampire._

" _Damon? What is he doing in Russia?" Rebekah exclaimed, dumbfounded._

" _Is he mixed-up with Petrov?" Kol shook his head; in disbelief._

" _I couldn't say, really; and I wouldn't want to put the blame on a man without knowing the justification of his presence there; what I know for sure is that he was present in the manor at the same moment that I was abducted." Maria replied._

" _Why would you brother be in Russia?" Klaus wondered, why turning his sight toward Stefan._

" _I have no idea; we barely spoke to each other the past few months." Stefan shrugged; apologetically._

" _Start talking!" Elijah approached Mikael's position; while drowning his sight in his father's._

" _Oh now, you want me to talk, how delightful." Mikael grinned; before gulping the content of his glass. "You know what is hilarious? How gullible you all are. You're here with your warrior mode, without even understanding a thing of what has been going on behind your backs and underneath your noses for so long." He added; while leaning his back on a console table; his arms crossed over his chest. "Damon has been the informer of Petrov for a few months now."_

" _You're lying, son of bitch!" Stefan exploded; while storming toward the patriarch; closed fists raised in front of his chest._

" _Calm down!" Klaus intercepted his friend; while grabbing his right upper arm._

" _Let me go!" Stefan exclaimed; soon equally retained in his force of actions by Kol's grip on his left arm._

" _Come on man, he doesn't deserve it; believe me I know it firsthand." Kol whispered, near Stefan's ear._

" _So, if I get your say correctly, father; Damon Salvatore was one of the informers of Ludvig Petrov?" Elijah questioned; while pacing back and forth in front of his father._

" _Not like I'm expecting you to believe me, but it's the truth and nothing but the truth." Mikael mocked; with an opened arms gesture._

" _Maria?" Elijah turned his glance toward his mother._

" _I'm so sorry, I couldn't say, really I couldn't." Maria shook her head, apolitically. "One minute I had passed away and was transported in my suite; the next your brother was standing by my side promising to help me escape." She informed Stefan._

" _He always hated your connection to me." Klaus commented to his friend. "Maybe it was his way to get some sort of revenge?" He added, while releasing the grip on Stefan's arm._

" _I don't believe it, I can't believe it." Stefan mumbled, between his teeth; before nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair._

" _Mio Dio e tutto il santo vaticano!" Isabella exclaimed, in shock; while entering the parlor room; a hand raised over her chest. "Signora Maria, you've been found?"_

" _Oh Maria, it's been so many years." Maria responded, all smile; while reaching the Italian maid position; before hugging her._

" _I'll thank Dio every night for this miracle; you're safe." Isabella replied, while cupping Maria's face in her hands; before suddenly turning her sight toward Mikael. "What is this_ _ **spazzatura**_ _(trash) doing here?"_

" _Oh really, now I'm trash?" Mikael commented; while rolling his eyes._

" _Not just now, you've always been!" Stefan added, perniciously._

" _Can we get rid of him; he can only bring more trouble than he's worth?" Rebekah commented._

" _Well I love you too, darling daughter." Mikael replied, sourly. "Funny how you quickly forget how, in the goodness of my heart, I brought back your mother to you."_

" _I wish that I could forget that part myself." Maria commented; while closing her eyes and sighing loudly._

" _Oh please brother, kick him out of the house for God sake?" Kol begged._

" _Actually, I prefer to keep an eye on him and on his future actions." Elijah commented; while raising his chin; his sight narrowed on the patriarch. "But, I won't force him to stay in our company."_

" _In that case, I did not prepare dinner for nothing; bring your_ _ **culo**_ _on the dining room table, lasagna is waiting for you… Go, go!" Isabelle ordered; while gesturing with both of her hands. "You two skinny girls also… move!" She pushed Katerina, Carolina and Bonnie out of the room._

* * *

_Katerina descended the stairs in one of the hacienda tour; halfway suddenly holding her pace while coming face to face with Mikael Mikaelson, her father in law._

" _I thought you had left? Let me pass, please?" She asked, politely; her sight fixating the Italian tiles covering the stairs._

" _I'm on my way soon, my dear; but before I leave I think we should have a little chat." Mikael responded to the brunette; while forcefully grabbing her left forearm._

" _It's the middle of the night; I'm tired and I want to go back my husband." She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth; while raising her chin and pulling her arm away from his grip of steel; her legs continuing the descent. "It's not because my husband accepted your presence in here that I need to have any contact with you."_

" _You must mean your "vampire" husband?" Mikael added; perniciously. "I've come to the realization that you know his true nature as of now, or am I mistaking?"_

_Katerina closed her eyes and abruptly stopped her momentum; closed fists place on each side of her tensed body; before retracing her steps up on a few stairs to drown her sight in Mikael's._

" _It makes no difference to me; you son is my husband and I … I respect him and see the man that he is trying to become as my companion." She busted to the patriarch face._

" _How poetic and yet so romantic at the same time, dear Katerina." Mikael replied to the young woman, sight narrowed on his prey, with his arms crossed over his chest. "Though your speech is so inspiring, where does it leave you as a human with my vampire son?"_

" _I don't understand what you mean?" Katerina replied; while blushing and swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _Yes, you do; but you're just refusing to see the harsh reality in front of your nose; quite surprising coming from a woman who had to witness the cruel world of prostitution, and the not so poetic side of men; would you say?" Mikael raised both his eyebrows in a confrontational gesture. "And I thought that your social status would actually be the main problem in your association with my son, how wrong I was, obviously." He added; a smirk raising both sides of his lips._

" _Go to hell, Mikael!" Katerina lashed out. "You have no right to … To judge me from your so high pedestal; when all that you've ever done for your own family is spitting into their faces, while causing them nothing but grief and pain." She added; while pointing a finger toward his chest. "You're a pitiful man; the only gift you granted them was to erase Maria's memory from her mind, at least she doesn't have to remember you as her husband."_

" _Well, well… Look at you now, Katerina Petrova! Aren't you a wild, talkative little thing?" Mikael mumbled, angrily; between his teeth; before pushing the young woman on the wall behind her back; both hands placed on each side of her shivering body._

" _Please let me go?" She begged of him; while raising her chin and sight._

" _How could you even consider staying by my son side while remaining human, my dear? Mm, can you answer this to me?" Mikael inquired; while grabbing Katerina's wrists. "You think he'll keep looking at your beauty when you'll be old and grey?"_

" _That is not of your business, Mikael!" The young Russian lashed out; with a trembling tone of voice. "How we decide to live our married life shouldn't concern you."_

" _You're a fool if you think that he'll keep you by his side as such!" Mikael replied; harshly. "Sooner or later; the beast in him will take over his purest intention toward you; and he'll turn you, mark my words; young foolish woman!"_

" _Let me go now!" Katerina lashed out in a louder tone of voice; while squirming to regain her freedom._

" _Oh stop fussing so much; if I wanted to hurt you I would have done it a long time ago; and trust me my dear; you wouldn't be alive now to discuss it with me!" Mikael busted; while trying to keep his equilibrium on the stair._

" _I've never hated someone as much as I hate you!" Katerina exclaimed, in rage; while squirming to free her wrists._

" _Stop moving or you'll fall, stupid woman!" Mikael warned; dryly._

_Katerina managed to free her hands, while pushing her aggressor at arm length; unfortunately unaware of her precarious standing position on the far edge of the stair. She lost her balance; and fell backward while rolling several times on herself; her back hitting an iron bar, with her head hitting the ceramic floor at the bottom of the stairs._

" _Oh dear God…" Mikael exclaimed, in shock, while passing a hand over his face; before storming in his vampire speed at the young woman's side. "Katerina, answer me? Are you alright?" He questioned, while kneeling by the brunette side; his right hand pushing long strands of her hair on the left side; before noticing the blood on his skin. "Oh dear God; you're bleeding!" He exclaimed; while raising his hand in front of his sight. "I can't stay here." He shook his head; fearful. "You'll …. You'll be ok, someone will find you soon, and you'll be ok." He stammered to himself; before rising on his legs and promptly vamping outside the Italian Estate._

* * *

" _Dio! Mister Mikaelson … Mister Mikaelson!" Isabella yelled from the top of her lungs; while kneeling at Katerina's side. "Come, quickly! La signora Katerina, she fell!"_

" _What do you mean she fell?" Elijah exclaimed, in shock; while rushing by the maid's side. "What happened?"_

" _I don't know? Maybe, like I've said she is not nourishing herself in a healthy way? The poor woman only has skin and bones!" Isabella waved her hands to the heaven._

_Elijah grabbed one of Katerina's shoes that had fallen on one of the above stairs; before turning his tormented sight toward the unconscious body of his wife. "No, it's not the reason; she really fell in the stairs." He suddenly realized; while kneeling urgently by Katerina's side._

" _Oh my God, what happened?" Maria exclaimed, in shock; while reaching the commotion, only to kneel at the opposite side._

" _I don't know; Isabella found Katerina unconscious at the bottom of the stairs, I think she fell from the staircase." Elijah replied, frantically; while pointing his left hand toward the upstairs._

" _Ok, ok … Calm down, and don't move Katerina, don't move her, Elijah!" Maria ordered, repeatedly; while grabbing her son's hands at the moment he thought of raising the brunette in his arms._

" _Why?" He asked, while passing a nervous hand through his hair._

" _Her back… I mean, I think she felled on the bar, there could be damage to her spine." Maria explained, while attracting her son's attention to the obvious._

" _What can I do to help?" Isabella, who stood silently by their sides, asked; while nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _You need to call an ambulance now." Maria signed the maid._

" _No!" Elijah forbad her. "If Katerina is taking in charge in a regular hospital, there will be records of her presence in Milan; we can't risk that." He shook his head._

" _What about the doctor… Oh, what was his name? Doctor Giovanni, yes! He's aware of our vampirism; isn't he?" Maria asked her son; while grabbing his left forearm._

" _Yes, he is aware of it. Isabella, contact him; quickly!" Elijah ordered the Italian man._

" _Sì, Mister Mikaelson, I'll do it right now." She nodded; before turning on her heels only to bump into Klaus and Carolina._

" _Katerina, oh my God, what happened?" Carolina exclaimed, in shock; while arriving at the scene of the accident; before kneeling near her sister unconscious body._

" _She had an accident." Maria responded, calmly; to not alert the young woman._

" _What? No… No, it's not possible." Carolina shook her head, in disbelief._

" _No, don't touch her, Carolina! You can't move her body in any way!" Elijah gently pushed the young woman aside. "Maybe she broke something, and we can't risk it."_

" _What are you talking about? What happened? Why is she lying on the floor this way, unconscious?" Carolina asked, frantically; while holding the legs of her sister._

" _My sweet Carolina, please just calm down, we think she fell from the staircase and we've called a doctor; we'll know soon enough; in the meantime, we can't move her." Maria tried to appease Carolina's worries. "There could be an injury and it would be wise to simply wait."_

" _No, I don't understand, she was fine an hour ago? Katerina, talk to me?" Carolina called her sister's name, tears falling on her cheeks. She shook her sister's body in hope that the young woman would awake._

" _Klaus?" Elijah called for assistance. "For her own good; get her out of here, please?" He added; while raising his teary eyes in his brother's._

_The hybrid nodded compassionate of his brother's turmoil; before grabbing both of his wife shoulders to raise the young woman back on her legs._

" _Come, Love." He murmured; while pulling the young woman near him._

" _No, no … You don't understand; I can't leave her… She's going to wake up and she'll ask for me, and then I won't be here." She tried to explain; while pushing his hands away._

" _You can't do anything to help your sister at the moment." Klaus added, calmly and softly; while firmly encircling her waist to carry Carolina away from the hallway._

" _No, let me go, Klaus; I want to be by her side, she's my sister, and she's going to be fine because she's strong, let me go!" She yelled from the top of her lungs; her voice echoing in the corridor while being carried away._

" _Oh dear; may God be with your wife to keep her safe and sound." Maria prayed heaven and the saints for Katerina's protection; while closing her eyes and grabbing Elijah's cold left hand in hers._

* * *

" _No, no, please let me go, Klaus! I want to see my sister!" Carolina begged, while hitting Klaus's chest of her closed fists._

_He gently pushed the young woman inside the living room area; before closing the doors behind his back. Carolina turned on herself several times, her tears rolling freely on her cheeks; hands suddenly grabbing each side of her head. She reached a nearby table, before grabbing a crystal vase in her hands; only to throw it on the floor a second later, in an acute sound of broking glass._

" _I swear; I will break every piece of furniture in this house if you're not letting me see my sister!" She warned the hybrid; hysterically. "I have Russian blood in my vein; I know how to fight, even against you!"_

" _I'm sure you will give it all you got; but it won't change the fact that you need to calm down, Love." Klaus tried to approach his wife's standing position. "Carolina, you need to get a grip on yourself; sweetheart?"_

" _I swear you're taking one additional step toward me and I'll hurt you!" She grabbed a pickaxe placed near the fire mantle; to point it in his direction._

" _Not to get technical at the present moment, but you won't succeed at hurting me much, immortal and all?" He raised both hands in front of her sight to calm the young woman down. "Put that down, or you risk to hurt yourself."_

" _Then let me see my sister, Klaus?" She begged once more; her chest rising up and down under a range of heavy breaths._

" _You can't see her while acting so irrational, Carolina." He tried to make her understand. "You wouldn't be able to help her at the moment."_

" _Then I'll hurt you!" Carolina warned her husband; before raising the pickaxe at him._

_In a prompt hand gesture; he grabbed the pointed object from her hands, before throwing it at the farthest opposite side of the room, while placing himself behind his wife's back; both arms sliding around her waist to easily grab both of her wrists in a firm grip._

" _Shush… You need to calm down!" Klaus whispered near her right ear; holding his wife prisoner of his arms; his lips softly kissing her forehead; while caressing her hair._

" _Let go of me, please; I need to see her, don't you understand?" She pleaded her case; while squirming to free herself from his strong imprisonment._

" _I do understand, Love. But, you need to let Elijah and Maria handle Katerina safety for the time being." He slowly rocked her in his arms. "I wouldn't keep you at arm length otherwise; I know how much you love her."_

" _My sister, Klaus … It's my sister…" Carolina mumbled, between her sobbing. "I can't lose her; I can't lose her this way… I simply can't…" She let herself fall on the floor. "I can't breathe, I can't breathe!" She panicked, while not being able to catch air into her lungs._

" _Look at me, sweetheart!" The hybrid kneeled by his wife side; before cupping Carolina's face with both hands. "You're having a panic attack; you need to look into my eyes and breathe calmly." He guided her; while hearing the rapid pace of Carolina's beating heart in his ears._

" _I can't…" She shook her head._

" _Yes you can, Carolina. You're the strongest woman I've ever met in all my long and lonely life. Breathe, Love; breathe and look into my eyes; just know how much I can't even grasp the idea of not having you by my side, how much you're this breath of fresh air into my lungs and life." He confessed; humbly. "I want to be yours; I want to give you strength."_

_She raised her teary eyes in the hybrid's; while slowly taking a few slow breaths into her lungs; before regularising her breathing a few seconds later, her head finally leaning on her husband chest to recuperate from her nervous breakdown._

" _You'll be fine, I got you now." Klaus let out a sigh of relief, while pulling Carolina in his arms; before closing his eyes; his chin resting in top of her head._

* * *

" _Is there any news?" Maria inquired; while approaching her eldest son, in the upstairs bedrooms corridor._

" _No." He responded, while pacing back in forth on the carpet placed in front of the bedroom door. "Doctor Giovanni is still with her." He stopped, before raising his right hand to strike his eyelids._

" _Well, we can only hope for the best then. Can we?" Maria tried to comfort him at the best of her capacity._

_The creak of the bedroom door was suddenly heard by the both of them. They simultaneously turned their heads to face doctor Giovanni; who nodded respectfully to his hosts._

" _How is she?" Elijah asked; in his worried state of mind._

" _I'm sorry, but it's not good news." The doctor replied, while shaking his head. "I would need confirmation of my personal diagnostic, but I fear that your wife is paralyzed from the neck down."_

" _Oh my God, it can't be true!" Maria exclaimed, while raising her right hand to her mouth._

" _I'm afraid it is." Doctor Giovanni commented; compassionate of their feelings. "When your wife fell; she hit her back and spine very badly. There is no sensation perceived in her lower members, underneath her neck." He explained. "This said, I could confirm my present diagnostic in my private clinic tomorrow, under the complete assurance that your wife presence would be kept quiet in my establishment."_

" _Is… Is she awake?" Elijah stammered, while keeping his sight in the emptiness of the corridor._

" _Yes. She is." The doctor replied._

" _Is she aware of her condition?" The Original asked._

" _Your wife seems to be an intelligent young woman." The doctor commented; while nodding his head. "Sadly, I believe she knows that her present condition is permanent."_

_Elijah took a few steps to reach the bedroom door. He slowly turned the handle, his eyes kept close for a few seconds, before finally entering the room._

" _Will you be ok?" Doctor Giovanni asked Maria._

" _There's been so many heartaches and sufferance in this family; sometimes, I don't even know how we handle everything?" She wondered out loud; tears filling her eyes._

* * *

_Elijah closed the door on its arch; before dragging his feet to reach Katerina's laying position on the bed._

" _Your marriage to me never brought you much luck, don't you think so?" Katerina whispered to her husband, her head placed on a pillow, with her teary sight fixating the ceiling; a single tear rolling on left cheek. "I guess you never expected to be stuck with a paralyzed wife?"_

" _Don't say that, Katerina; please don't…" Elijah shook his head; tears rolling down his cheeks and neck. "I can fix this, and you know it." He suggested. "Tell me what happened? Did you fell?"_

" _What does it change now?" She replied; fatalistic. "I've told you that I would never want to be turned as a vampire; and you promised me, Elijah… You promised! You need to keep this promise made to me." Katerina added, in a shallow whisper._

" _But, it is a different circumstance; Katerina." Elijah started to pace back and forth on the length of the bed; while nervously passing his right hand through his tangled hair._

" _No…It's not!" She whispered more; before closing her eyes and swallowing a lump in her throat. "And I need an additional favor from you." She managed to let the request out of her mouth._

" _Whatever you need, my love; I'll take care of you." Elijah promised, while taking a sitting position on the bed; before grabbing her right hand._

" _I can't even feel my hand in yours?" She commented; tears sliding down on her eyelashes from her closed eyelids._

" _It's ok; I'll feel those things for the both of us." He nodded, compassionate; while kissing the back of Katerina's hand. "We'll keep you comfortable in all times; Maria is back now and she'll take care of you when I can't." He added, while trying to bring her hope that this wouldn't change anything between the two of them._

" _You're an honorable man, Elijah Mikaelson; but I wouldn't want to be a burden on your shoulders. I want you to promise me that you will take care of Carolina; I want you to assure yourself that Klaus will always make her happy, can you do this for me?" Katerina asked; while reopening her eyes, only to glance by their corners to her husband._

' _You'll do it yourself, ok?" Elijah reassured her. "I'll ask her to come and see you now."_

" _No, I don't want her to see me like this! You'll do it for me, and I … I want you to kill me, Elijah; I can't live this way… Please, promise me that you will kill me?" Katerina begged of him._

" _Don't ask me that." Elijah shook his head; while rising on his two legs. "Don't ever ask me that again!"_

" _I beg of you, please grant me this wish?" She added, tears rolling down her cheeks and throat."_

" _No!" He responded once more, firmly; before directing his steps toward the bedroom door. "I'll ask Maria to come to your bedside."_

" _Elijah… Please…" Katerina called in the mix of her sobbing and sufferance, before hearing the door being slam on its arch._

* * *

" _What do you mean she fell?" Rebekah frantically asked her brother Kol; while standing speechless and motionless, in front of his sight on the opened terrace; with a silent and petrified Bonnie and Stefan in the background._

" _They think Katerina had missed a step on the staircase; and …" Kol raised his right hand to strike his eyelids. "And she fell on the bottom of the stairs, while hitting her spine, causing …" He stopped once more, while closing his eyes. "And it caused her to be paralyzed from the neck down."_

" _No, no, no …" Rebekah shook her head; tears starting to fill her eyes. "Elijah will fix her; we are vampires for God sake; at least we can heal people when it's necessary."_

" _She doesn't want to be fixed, Bekah." Kol replied, while swallowing a lump in this throat._

" _What do you mean she doesn't want to be fixed?" Rebekah asked, nervously; while gesturing with her arms. "Well, we don't care what she wants or not, we'll do as we please!"_

" _Rebekah, just … Just try to calm down, would you?" Stefan whispered; while grabbing both of her upper arms._

" _Calm down, I can't calm down; we're talking about my sister-in-law in here." She busted._

" _Bekah… Katerina doesn't want to be turned. Elijah promised her that he would never do it." Kol explained, trace of sadness filling his tone of voice. "She wants … Oh dear God! She wants Elijah to kill her."_

" _What… No… No!" She lashed out, tears rolling on her cheeks. "She can't die!" She added, in the middle of her sobbing. "I mean, I'm a bitch most of the times … But, I was previously joking with her on the terrace; I didn't mean what I've said … I like Katerina, and I like Carolina, I don't want this, Kol… Make it go away… Make it go away!" She yelled, while leaning her upper body forward; left under an indescribable amount of pain._

" _Come here!" Stefan turned her over, before wrapping his arms around the sobbing blonde. "I'll take care of her." He mouthed the words to Kol; while caressing Rebekah's hair and rocking the young woman in his arms._

_Kol shaken; turned on his heels before storming in his vampire speed out of the terrace._

" _I'll … I'll try to find him, and … Just be there for Rebekah in the meantime..." Bonnie stammered through her own say; before rushing inside the house to find Kol._

* * *

" _It's unfair; she can't die!" Rebekah murmured through her sobbing, her head tucked on Stefan's right shoulder; arms firmly crossed around his neck; with her tears wetting his man shirt._

" _Yes, it's totally unfair, Rebekah, I know; Katerina is a sweet woman; and she is certainly not deserving of this twisted dark turn of events." He whispered; while softly caressing her long hair by passing his fingers thought her golden strands._

" _You know I've treated her badly; earlier on the terrace." Rebekah tried to explain. "But, I never wanted to hurt her, and now she is … And…" She couldn't finish her sentence._

" _Oh yah, I know; you've acted like your usual bitch." Stefan nodded; a grin spreading on his lips._

" _What?" She startled, before raising her head to drown her sight in his. "You think I'm a bitch, don't you? You're right I'm an awful person… I'm not even able to be a sister-in-law to the both of them."_

" _I'm joking." The young vampire smiled; while passing the back of his right hand on her wet cheek. "You're putting your defense walls, when you're starting to have feelings for someone. And; that is why you were teasing Katerina so much…It's a weird way to welcome her into the family… It's the only way I've ever seen the Mikaelsons granting anyone of their appreciation and love… You're a weird bunch, you know?" He teased._

" _And now, she won't have the chance to know that I truly like her." Rebekah reprised her crying; while lowering her head back on his chest._

" _Shush … You need to calm down now; I'm sure your brother will think of something." Stefan commented._

" _Elijah will never turn Katerina as a vampire; he's too moralistic to go back on the solemn promise he gave to her." She responded; while sniffling loudly._

" _You never know, a man like him could actually move mountains for the woman that he fell in love with." Stefan defended the eldest, while grabbing Rebekah's chin in his hand, to raise her sight in his._

" _You think that he would betray his promise made to his wife?" She asked, hopeful._

" _I don't know, maybe it's her who will change her mind? Who could say?" Stefan shrugged, while addressing a smile to the blonde Original. "Try to be optimistic for a change, would you?"_

" _There's nothing even remotely optimistic about this family." She confessed, while slowly pushing herself at arm length of his embrace. "For centuries; we've been struggling as supernatural entities, battling war after war; when it was not in our own family, it was with our enemies."_

" _Maybe it's time to simply reconnect? Your mother came back to you; and even if Maria is missing parts of her past memory, she knows her rightful place in the family now." Stefan commented._

" _Why are you so nice to me?" She sniffled loudly; while keeping her sight lost in his dark glance._

" _Well, firstly; I'm stock with you." Stefan mocked her, openly; to which as a response, Rebekah hit him on his upper left arm with her closed fist. "Hey! Watch out would you? And secondly; it's my sensitive poodle day today, don't you remember?" He winked, teaser. "Thirdly, just know that I will always be there for you, anytime, anywhere… It doesn't matter if you need me, I'll be by your side."_

" _Thank you." Rebekah nodded; a timid smile blessing._

" _You're welcome, Rebekah." Stefan responded, while returning a smile to her._

* * *

_Maria closed the door behind her back; before turning on her heels to slowly raise her sight on her eldest son that was standing in the penumbra of the study room, in front of a bay window; with a glass of Scotch in his hand._

" _I've informed your brother of the present situation; he'll …" She paused, while closing her eyes and swallowing a lump in her throat. "He'll inform Carolina of her sister's medical status as of now." She continued, before adding. "Katerina is sleeping; the doctor gave her a sedative drug."_

" _Thank you." Elijah replied, toneless; before raising her trembling right hand and glass to his lips to gulp the alcohol. "You can leave now, Maria; you should take time to rest; you've endure so much in the past few days."_

" _I'm fine, thank you for your concerns, but … Maybe I could be of more help, if you let me?" Maria suggested; while taking a few additional steps to reach his son's standing position. "What you've just endure, no man should."_

" _You've done more than enough, Maria; I could never repay you for all your help." He added; before grabbing the bottle of Scotch; his shaking hands pouring more alcohol in his empty glass._

" _How are you holding up?" She whispered; tears filling her eyes. "I'm worrying so much about you."_

" _How do you think I'm holding up?" Elijah questioned, dryly; before closing his eyes; under his heavy and loud sounds of breathing. "Fuck!" He lashed out, unexpectedly, while startling his mother; before throwing the glass on the brick walls surrounding the fireplace, pieces of broken glass spreading on the floor. "Fuck! Fuck!" He continued to swear, before hitting of his closed fists, the row of bottles placed on a service table; the alcohol splashing on the walls, with the acute sound of broken glass resonating on the room. "Fuck this! Fuck everything!" He busted; closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body; before collapsing on the floor, curled up on himself, with his legs brought near his chest._

" _Oh; my sweet boy, you're broken in thousands of pieces, aren't you?" Maria whispered, while bringing her right hand over her mouth; before kneeling by her son's side._

" _Don't… Go! I don't want you to see me this way." Elijah mumbled, almost incoherently, between his teeth; while gesturing with his right hand for his mother to leave._

" _You're my eldest; the first baby I held you in my arms, I'm not about to leave you alone in this kind of pain." Maria commented, before wrapping her arms around his son's shivering body. "Let it out, my son; you owe to yourself to let your … You mother help you pass through this." She whispered softly to her first born; while rocking the sobbing man in her arms._

" _I'm a man; I'm in no need to be held like a baby." He tried to regain his self-esteem._

" _Rubbish! You've always been such a rock for this family; for once, you need to be the one that we'll take care of." She caressed his hair, tears now rolling on her cheeks._

" _I don't know what to do; mother… I don't want to lose her?" Elijah replied, while raising his teary eyes in hers. "I've promised that I would not turn her, I've promised… And for me it's a code of honor."_

" _Yes, it is a code of honor; and I've seen you over the years act so honorable all the time. But, what is your heart telling you, Elijah? What seems right to you, now? Put aside what your wife wish; just listen to your intuition about this." Maria cupped her son face in her hands; while drowning her sight in his. "That are the real questions that you need to ask yourself. Whatever the responses will be; it will be lead you toward the right choice."_

_Elijah nodded his head; thankful that his mother had reached out to him in this moment of need._

" _Thank you." He managed to let the words out of his mouth; under his profound sobbing._

" _I pray God to be with you in this hard decision, my dear son." Maria blessed him of a kiss on his forehead._

* * *

_The sound of the bedroom door closing on its arch woke up Carolina in a start. She raised her upper body in a sitting position; her sight scattering the penumbra of the room._

" _Is there any news of Katerina?" She jumped away from the bed; while reaching her husband's standing position near its foot._

_Klaus closed his eyes, while biting into his bottom lip; closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body. He hated this! He hated seeing this pain in Carolina's eyes. Earlier, he had carried the young woman in his arms from the living room to their bedroom, before gently laying her shivering body on the bed. She had fallen asleep the minute her head had touched the pillow, exhausted by the recent events of the past days._

" _You need to … You need to be strong, Love." He raised his sight in hers; while swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _What … What do you mean? What is happening? Where is my sister, Klaus?" Carolina asked; before storming toward the bedroom door, soon stopped by a firm grip of his left hand on her upper arm. "You can't keep me here against my will; I need to see my sister now!"_

" _She doesn't want to see you." He replied, his sight drown in her._

" _What? No, it's not possible; of course she wants to see me. Stop doing this to me! You're cruel; crueller that you've ever been before!" She busted; with the intention to hurt her husband, as much as her heart was breaking in thousands of pieces at the moment._

" _I'm not being cruel to you; Carolina; if I could I would gladly swallow this pain for you, never doubt that for a second." Klaus replied; while grabbing both of her shoulders in a firm grip. "We… I mean Elijah called a doctor, and he came to the villa; we needed to keep a low profile in the city; we … we can't disclose our whereabouts, Love." Klaus started to explain to her._

" _Ok, and? What did he say about Katerina's condition?" She begged him to tell more._

_Klaus raised his head and his sight to fix the ceiling; while sighing loudly._

" _What are you hiding from me? Don't do this, please don't do this!" The young Russian woman shook her head; tears starting to roll back on her cheeks._

" _He thinks…" He started, before closing his eyes. "In his medical opinion and knowledge; he thinks your sister is paralyzed from the neck down."_

" _No, no, no!" She pulled her arms away from his grip. "You're lying, I don't know why you're doing this, but you're lying!"_

" _Caroline, Love…" Klaus raised his right hand to reach her. "Please, I'm not a monster, I would never use something this wicked and vain against you." He added; while shaking his head._

" _Where is she now? Where's my sister?" She lashed out more._

" _She's under strong sedative drugs, she's sleeping; in Elijah's bedroom." Klaus explained. "She doesn't want you to see her like this. She specifically asked her husband to grant her that wish." He added, with his voice broking under his own explanation._

" _Her husband, really, how ironic, you must mean the man who paid for my sister's services in his bed?" Carolina pointed a finger toward the hybrid's chest, rage coming out of her lips._

" _Carolina; I know you're hurt and breaking inside, I've been in this kind of pain more times that you could even imagine during my life; and each time I lashed out my anger on others; but please just have this certainty in your heart; my brother is deeply in love with your sister; he would die for her." Klaus gave his solemn words._

" _Then … Then … He could turn her, no?" She begged of him, while approaching Klaus's standing position; her hands grabbing the fabric of his t-shirt, her sight rose in his._

_Klaus frowned, while grabbing both of her hands to bring them to his lips, before softly kissing her skin._

" _I'm so sorry, Love." He offered his apologies, tears filling his eyes, pain filling his heart and soul._

" _He wouldn't do this for my sister?" Carolina exclaimed; in shock. "He would let her be paralyzed in a bed?"_

" _No, you have it backward; Katerina made him promise that he would never turn her as a vampire." Klaus confirmed. "She wants …" He added, before taking a deep breath. "She wants to die peacefully."_

" _Who cares what she wants, he needs to turn her!" She busted more. "If he truly loves her, he needs to do this for her, for me!"_

" _My brother is an honorable and moral man; if he… If he gave his words to her, I highly doubt that he could ever come back and retract his promise." Klaus replied, while pacing back and forth, both hands placed on each side of his waist._

" _Would you?" Carolina asked._

" _Would I what, Carolina?" Klaus stopped his pacing to drown his sight in hers._

" _Would you turn me if the role would be reverse?" She inquired once more._

" _It's complicated." He shook his head; before nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair._

" _How can this be complicated? I would be lying in a bed, paralyzed and you would leave me like in that condition?" She lashed out to his face; while pointing the bed._

" _No I wouldn't! I would turn you in a heartbeat, but I would hate myself afterward!" He yelled back at his wife. "You have no idea what being a vampire means; the suffering and pain behind it!"_

" _And what do you think my sister is feeling now?" She replied to him._

_Carolina shook her head in disbelief, while taking a few steps away from her husband; before rushing toward the bedroom door, grabbing the handle, only to saw the panel being closed on its arch in front of her sight._

" _I can't let you leave this bedroom now; it wouldn't change anything to this point in time." Klaus tried to make her understand. "Your sister is sleeping; let them both handle this questioning by themselves, you'll see her in the morning."_

" _So to forbid me to leave this bedroom, what are you going to do? Force yourself on me once more, while assuring yourself that I won't pass the threshold?" She asked him; dryly and perniciously._

_Klaus startled at her say, before pushing himself at a few feet of distance from Carolina's standing position; only to become as white as a ghost under her imply._

" _Oh my god, Klaus; that is not what I meant… I'm …" Carolina turned on herself to face him; before raising her shaking right hand in front of her mouth. "I didn't mean a single word of it; I'm so sorry, please forgive me?"_

" _No, you did mean it; and I deserved it." He nodded, while keeping his sight away from his wife. "I'll go check with Maria if you can see your sister for a few minutes, I … I just wanted to protect you, Carolina; nothing more." He added, before grabbing the handle and rushing outside the bedroom._

_Carolina let herself fall on the floor, curled up on herself; her arms encircling her knees; her head buried between her legs; while letting her pain emerge from the deepness of her soul._

* * *

" _Kol?" Bonnie called softly; while closing the door behind her back and taking her first steps inside his bedroom._

_The room was empty of his presence; but a nice breeze was entering inside by the two French doors opened on the small balcony. She took a few additional steps to reach it; before noticing the dark silhouette placed in front of the guard rail._

" _What are you doing here, Bonnie?" Kol inquired, while keeping his sight in the panoramic view of the city of Milan._

" _I wanted to check how you were doing in all of this turn of event?" She shrugged her shoulders; while leaning her back on one of the opened door._

" _I'm fine, it's late; you should get some rest." Kol replied, dryly; while grabbing the guard rail with both hands, both of his knuckles whitening under his stress level._

" _Sure you're fine, aren't we all fine after wall?" Bonnie commented; sarcastically._

" _Is this sarcasm I hear in your voice, Bonnie?" He asked; a rictus raising the left side of his lips._

" _Could be? I use sarcasm a lot to keep people at arm length. Does this tactic make you think of someone in particular aside from me?" She questioned._

" _We're not alike, darling." He sighed; loudly._

" _We're more alike than you think, Kol. You're the one in the family that is always standing aside from the other ones; while either keeping silent or joking around to create a diversion; but in the meantime you're suffering like the other ones." She commented; while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _You're here to give me a psychology 101 course, Bonnie?" Kol replied, dryly._

" _No, I'm here because I thought you could use a friend by your side." She replied, while shaking her head. "But, like me you're probably too proud to admit it."_

" _No offence, Bonnie; but I doubt you could help me now." He replied; finally turning his head to drown his sight in hers._

" _I'm stressed about what just happened, as much as you are, you know?" She nervously swallowed a lump in her throat. "I did not know Katerina much, or for a long time, but … I'm friend with Carolina, and … This is simply awful."_

" _Our family has been cursed for centuries now; it's like all the people who are near to us will be hurt somehow in the future." Kol turned on his heels to face the young woman. "I'm sorry to have dragged you into all of this."_

" _Well, you couldn't know what was about to happen with Klaus's biological father, and you couldn't predict or even prevent Katerina's accident." She shrugged, compassionate._

" _Perhaps, but both of my brothers should have known better than married two foreign human girls." Kol busted. "Look at the huge mess we've created in their life." He added; while nervously passing his hand in his tangled hair._

" _You can't change who you are, Kol." Bonnie commented._

" _You can't change who you are either, Bonnie, and what you are is a witch, who is forbidding herself to use her gift of magic." Kol replied to her._

" _It's not the same." She shook her head._

" _It's entirely the same." Kol lashed out, while gesturing with his arms._

" _Nothing is forcing me to use magic, I can live without it. In reverse, you're forced to embrace you're vampirism or you'll die." Bonnie commented more._

" _You're cutting the hair in two!" He replied, dryly; both hands placed on each side of his waist._

" _I'm calling it as I see it! And … Please, don't talk about me or my witch power, it makes me uncomfortable and nervous, and when I am nervous … I … There's only one thing that is calming me down." She stammered through her sentence, while rubbing her hands nervously._

" _Oh yah, one thing is relaxing you, darling? What is it, being a stubborn woman while debating all night with me?" Kol rolled his eyes to the night sky._

" _No, it's actually having sex! You want to have some with me?" She replied, tit for tat; while turning on her heels, before raising her tank top over her head to undress herself._

" _What did you just say?" Kol stood speechless, over the threshold of the French door; his jaw dropped on the floor._

" _The only thing that will relax me to this point is for me to have sex, so you're here, I'm here, we both here, so if you're in the mood?" She shrugged; while throwing her tank top on the floor. "No strings attached though, I don't want any smoochy stuff." She winced; disdainfully; while pushing her pants on her legs._

" _Don't even try to be romantic on my account!" Kol exclaimed, in shock._

" _Romantic? Me? Nah, it's not in my genes." She replied; while throwing her pants on the floor, before unhooking her lace bra; that fell down by itself on the pile. "What? You don't want this? It's ok; I can dress back into my clothes?" She faced him; topless._

" _Oh shit!" Kol swore, his sight sliding on the delicious curves of her breasts. "I mean, no, no, stay as you are … I'm coming!" He rushed out of his clothes; while Bonnie entered underneath the bed sheet. "Just let me placed my clothes on a chair; and pick up yours in the meantime." He added; while bending his upper body to pick up her lace underwear, and remaining clothes she had thrown on the floor a minute ago. "There, now I'm all yours, darling." He exclaimed, while walking toward the bed; before realizing that Bonnie had fallen asleep. "You got to be kidding me? No, no, you did not feel asleep, wake up!" He gently shook her left shoulder; before rolling his eyes to the ceiling, completely discouraged. "It's only to me that this kind of shit happens!" He added, while stroking his eyelids._

_Kol sighed loudly, before sliding himself underneath the sheet. Bonnie let a soft moan of satisfaction out of her lips, before rolling her body on Kol's, her arms encircling his waist._

" _Well, this is not so bad after all." He smirked; while enjoying the sensual touch of her naked body on his. "I like it very much actually." He added; sliding his right arm around her shoulders; before letting himself fall asleep in this warm and romantic embrace._

* * *

_The eldest of the Originals walked quickly in direction of the bedroom; while keeping his empty sight straight ahead in the penumbra of the corridor. He opened the door; before slamming the panel on its arch; wakening the young woman who lay on the bed in the same process._

" _What is happening?" Katerina whispered in her semi-state of consciousness under the strong medication given to her; before slowly raising her heavy eyelids to glance at the dark silhouette reaching her side of the bed. "Elijah? What are you doing? It's the middle of the night; is it my time for me to die?"_

_The vampire raised his wrist to his mouth, before tearing the skin from his arm; blood spreading from the opened wound._

" _What? No, no… You promised to me, no…" She exclaimed, while realizing his twisted intention._

_He pushed his opened wound on Katerina's lips, while forcing her to drink his blood; under her loud cries of protestation. She coughed several times, while trying to reject the red elixir that spread into her throat. When she had drunk enough; he snapped her neck; before lowering her lifeless head on her pillow. Now, the only thing to do was to wait for her awakening …_

" _Forgive me, Katerina, forgive me; Please." He knelled on the floor, while lowering his head over his crossed arms placed over the bed, near her lifeless body. "I couldn't lose you, my love; not this way, not now, not ever…"_


	23. In the devil's den

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.

_**Italy – Milan, Mikaelson's estate; the morning after Katerina's accident…** _

" _No, no, fuck!" The loud exclamation reasoned in the room. "Love; what did you do?" Klaus stammered, angrily, between his teeth; before lashing out his anger with a vase being thrown at the opposite wall, in the bedroom, the object soon hitting the floor on an acute sound of broken crystal._

_The hybrid nervously started pacing back and forth on the length of the rug placed at the foot of the bed; his thoughts and feelings spreading in all directions, in a fierce battle between his heart, mind and soul… He was lost and scared like he had never been before in the past thousand years of his supernatural life on this earth. He raised his right shaking hand holding the letter Carolina had left at his attention on the bedside table; his eyes brushing, once more, the words she had written to explain her present action._

_**Klaus;** _

_**My sister was probably turned as a vampire by your brother as of now; and because of this last turn of event; I had no other choices but to act promptly. The past few days had been hectic and difficult for all of us; but it took even more strength for me and my sister to pass through them. I can't even start to imagine what is in store for your family, our marriage or even my sister's faith with your biological father on our tails? I don't want to live my life in fear or as a fugitive all the time. I'm taking a plane back to Russia; I need to try to put an end to this; I need to take action, to show how much I care for you and for our marriage.** _

_**Again; I'm so sorry for what I've said to you, so sorry … I did not meant a single word of what I've said; my thoughts were all over the place, my heart was hurting so much after my sister's accident; and I let my anger take the best of me.. Please forgive me; like I'd forgive you in the past.** _

_**I love you,** _

_**Yours forever;** _

_**Carolina.** _

_He read and re-read the "I love you" part several times in a row; not even able to let the words sink-in inside his mind, heart and soul. She loves him? Him – The devil reincarnated? That couldn't even be possible? Why would she say that? Why, except if she truly meant it, or maybe not?_

_He folded the letter back in the envelope; before holding it near his chest; tears rolling on his cheeks. He should have known after their quarrel last night that she would find a way to put herself in danger. She was so stubborn, and, she was so set to pick-up the pieces of his broken family, her sister's destiny as a vampire, and their married life. In all costs necessary, even if it meant for her to take a plane to Russia to meet Ludvig Petrov in person!_

_**ooOoo** _

_**The previous night…** _

" _ **I'm sorry to bother you; I just need a few minutes to gather a few toiletries items." Klaus informed his wife, his walking steps leading him toward the bathroom, while avoiding looking in her direction.**_

" _ **Klaus; please … Can we talk?" Carolina begged of him; while jumping in a rush on the wooden floor, from her lying position on the bed. She had drifted in a semi-sleeping state for an hour or so; her eyes puffy by her sobbing. It's the grinding sound of the bedroom door slowly being opened on its arch that had waking her up.**_

" _ **I'm sorry if I woke you up. But, there's nothing to say at the moment, Carolina. I perfectly understood your previous say to me." Klaus replied, in a polite, but toneless voice. "I'll be out of your way in a minute; and out of your life when the danger of my father's threats on all our backs will die." He added, rapidly gathering a few of his personal items; before storming out of the adjacent small room. "Good night." He wished to her, politely.**_

" _ **Klaus, please…" Carolina grabbed his left forearm to retain her husband by her side, in the room. "Let me explain to you what I meant earlier, the words came out of my mouth; but I swear that …"**_

" _ **Don't!" He cut his wife's sentence short; while shaking his head, gently pulling his arm away from her grip. His eyes closed under a few loud sighs to control his vivid emotions.**_

" _ **I didn't mean it; I swear I didn't … I was angry … So angry, because of my sister's accident." Carolina tried to explain furthermore. "And it came out of my mouth, without reaching my heart, please believe me?"**_

" _ **I wish I could believe you." Klaus replied, calmly; while turning his blurry sight in his wife's. "I know your heart is at the right place, Carolina; but you meant every words of it; because it was the truth, I'm the cause of all the hurt in your life."**_

" _ **How can you even say that?" She startled at his say; before swallowing a lump in her throat.**_

" _ **Who had brought the chaos into your and sisters' life, who had brought nightmares into your nights, who had brought tears in your eyes and pain in your heart, who, Carolina?" Klaus busted, angrily; while holding her shoulders with both hands, in a firm grip. "And if I wanted to continue my list of sins, I would tell you that I brought the same pain to my family. So, no … Don't excuse yourself for telling the truth about how much and how frequently I've been hurting you, because you're only saying the truth."**_

" _ **Don't do this, don't, please …" She shook her head, tears rolling on her cheeks; before raising both of her trembling hands to cup his face. "Look at me; I swear I couldn't even imagine my life without you in it now. Klaus; you're my husband, you're my life; please, forgive me; I did not meant what I've said to you. I buried the past and the rocky start of marriage a long time ago; please, don't bring it back because of my unfortunate error to have mentioned it in a moment of anger over my sister's accident and life in general. We had such a lovely day together, today; don't … Don't throw it away; I've never been so happy in all my life. But, you have to understand that I'm only human; I make mistakes most of the time."**_

" _ **No, Love; you have it backward. I'm the one who's destroying you life; I'm the one who's destroying the pure soul that you are." He replied, dryly; while grabbing both of her wrists. "You won't be happy until you'll be free of me. The sooner you'll realize that, the sooner you'll reach peace in your heart."**_

" _ **Klaus; please… Don't…That's not true; I need you." Carolina raised herself on her tip toes, before softly nibbling on his bottom lip; under his loud growls of protestation. He tried to resist her seduction attack, but it was a battle lost in advance for him.**_

_**Klaus suddenly lost his self-restrain by crashing his lips on hers; the salty taste of Carolina's tears rolling on his lips and tip of tongue; who soon twirled with her own in a dance that only lovers would know by heart. She moaned sounds of pleasure under his passionate embrace; while raising both of her hands on his muscular chest; before burying her fingers in the longer strands, at the base of his neck. He let out an additional growl; Carolina's body being raised and pushed on the wall located behind her back, her legs soon wrapped around his waist. He rubbed his hands on her body; from the delicious curb of her bottom; to the erected nipples of her breasts.** _

" _ **Take me…" Carolina whispered, her head leaning backward to give a better access to Klaus's lips on her neck and cleavage.**_

" _ **No, no … No!" Klaus shook his head to regain a sense of reality; before slowly lowering Carolina back to her shaking legs. "I can't do this!" He added; while pushing himself at arm length; before walking toward the exit of the bedroom.**_

" _ **Klaus, no … Please, come back… Please!" Carolina begged him to reconsider; before seeing the door being slammed on its arch in front of her sight. "I'll find a way to show you how much I care for you, I swear!" She promised herself out loud; the tears rolling on her cheeks. "I swear I'll find a way to help us all!"**_

* * *

_**The manor's garden…** _

" _You have to forgive me … It's been so long since I've addressed myself to you; and I … I probably lost the touch, and I still don't know if I'm even allowed to do so; but, my request is selfless." Maria whispered softly the words of her prayer; while keeping her hands joined over her lap; a lace handkerchief tucked between them._

_The maid and patriarch of the Mikaelson family had arrived in the flowers garden, a few minutes earlier; securely located behind the manor. She had sit on one of the cement bench; her head and sight kept on the grass at her feet; and her deep thoughts on Katerina._

" _Dear God; I'll never know if our existence as vampires was something that you had planned all along or not; I suppose that it was against your wish; and probably an act of the devil himself, but ..." Maria paused; tears filling her eyes. "If you could grant my daughter-in-law, Katerina; the privilege of your divine protection, I would be eternally grateful." She raised her teary eyes to the blue sky above her head. "She is not responsible for her present condition; and my son did it out of love; so … If you could in additions grant him your forgiveness?" She implored more, before hearing a discreet cough behind her back; only to turn her head and find George a few feet of distance._

" _I did not mean to startle you; please forgive me, Mrs. Maria." George nodded, respectfully; a timid smile reaching his lips and redness his cheeks._

" _Oh! George, no don't be silly." Maria shook her head, both hands wiping her tears away; with a sudden smile reaching her lips. "You could never bother me."_

" _May I?" George gestured toward the bench._

" _Oh, of course you may, you don't even have to ask." Maria agreed; seeing Elijah's right arm man take a sitting position by her side._

" _How are you? How are you holding up?" George asked; unceremoniously; while grabbing his cap from his head; before nervously turning it in his hands._

" _Me? Of for God sake; it's not important how I feel." The patriarch shook her head; while joining her shaking hands on her lap. "What is important at the moment is that Miss Katherine could recuperate from her fall and accept her new …" She closed her eyes for a few seconds; before reopening them. "She could accept her new condition as a vampire."_

" _I wish the best for Miss Katherine, as well." George nodded compassionate. "But; you're forgetting "yourself" in the middle of all of this, aren't you?" He admitted his concern, while raising his right hand to slide it on her joined ones. "You need someone to lean on; you need someone to be by your side; someone that would be with you through thick and thin."_

_Maria turned her sight to stare into George's eyes, before lowering her head; redness suddenly reaching both of her cheeks._

" _It's highly inappropriate, George." Maria slowly pulled away her hands from his gentle holding._

" _How is this inappropriate? You've known about my deep feelings for you since a long time now, Maria?" George asked, dumbfounded._

" _And that is why it's inappropriate!" Maria exclaimed, once more; while nervously rising on her legs. "We … We are employed at their services; we … We shouldn't even whisper romantic words in the garden." She stammered through her say; while rubbing her hands and pacing back and forth on the grass._

" _You're not employed at their services; you're their mother!" George busted; while rising on his legs himself. "I'm so sorry for my present outburst, Maria; but you can't seriously hold this fact against us?"_

" _Well, this "fact" makes it even more inappropriate then, would you say?" She turned on herself to face him._

" _I swear if you're saying "inappropriate" one more time." George growled; his hands twisting the fabric of his cap that he was tightly holding. "I was … I was so worried when you were abducted by this "man"; words could not even describe how I felt, when you disappeared, Maria."_

" _Oh for God sake; we've been over this before." Maria rolled her eyes to the blue Mediterranean sky. "I … I agreed to go on one date with you; but then I realized that it was simply_ _ **Inappro**_ _… I mean…" She closed her eyes, while holding the forbidding word from escaping her lips. "This "idea" of "us" was simply not meant to be; we were working at the same place, and you are ten years younger than me!"_

_George stared in amazement at Maria; a mouth opened expression plastered on his face, before leaning his head backward; with laugher bursting out of his mouth._

" _I'm lacking to see the hilarious part of all of this?" Maria lashed out; dryly._

" _I'm sorry; please pardon me." George tried to hold his hilarity; while raising his right hand in front of his mouth. "But; I couldn't hold my laugher at the "ten years younger than me" part. Maria; we are vampires; it's not like it's making a huge difference, is it?"_

" _For me it does! In human years you are younger than me; you could be my son!" She replied; while gesturing nervously with her arms._

" _Aren't you exaggerating an all lot?" George replied; a smirk raising both side of his manly lips._

" _I'm not exaggerating at all!" Maria replied, raised chin; with both closed fists placed on each side of her hips._

" _You're a beautiful woman, Maria; when … When I find myself in your presence; my all vampire existence is finally making sense to me." George whispered softly, a few walking steps leading him to reach Maria standing position. He grabbed a yellow rose from the bushes; before sliding its stem behind her left ear. "I want you in my life; I've never wanted something more. I almost lost you; and I don't want this to happen again."_

_Maria kept her sight locked in her suitor; a range of intense shivers hitting her entire body all at once._

" _I'll go check on Miss Katherine now." She mentioned, politely; while turning her attention toward the villa. "I hope God will be with her." She added, before leaving George's side._

* * *

_Rebekah pushed the lace curtain on the side; her sight lost in the garden of the Italian manor; on this sunny early morning. She turned on her heels; before facing the motionless female body lying on the bed. It had been hours since her brother Elijah had turned his wife; but she hasn't woken up yet. It's with a lot of persuasion that Rebekah had managed to push her brother out of the room; to grant him time to shower and dress himself with clean clothes. Elijah had been by his wife's bedside all night. The vigilante had kept his sight on Katerina's transition with each passing second._

" _You know…" Rebekah addressed herself to the unconscious and still comatose victim; while facing the immobile silhouette. "Elijah took the right decision. I know you won't see it that way at first; Katerina. Believe me; I know it better than anybody else." She added; while pulling a velvet chair to sit by the brunette's bedside. "When…" She closed her eyes, while nervously rubbing her hands together. "When my father turned all of us against our own will; I took it very badly. It's … Strangely enough; it's Klaus who helped me cope with the idea that I was leaving behind my own humanity; and all of my dreams attached to it. Don't you dare repeat this to anyone; but my biggest wish was to find a husband and to start a family of my own in our native village." She let a smile spread on her lips; tears filling her eyes; before grabbing Katerina's right hand in hers. "And I had to let go of that dream for the eternity; and eternity is such a long time when you can't make peace with your ghosts." The original commented more; tears now rolling down on her cheeks. "Make peace with yours, Katerina; listen to my advice; forgive Elijah … He… He simply couldn't live with the idea of knowing that he could lose you for good. He cares so deeply for you; I've never seen him so … So attached to a woman before. Loosing you would have killed him, little by little; and it would have left a big hole in all of our hearts; but mostly in mine… I know you won't probably believe me; because I'm acting like such a bitch with you most of times; but I truly like you, you're one of my sisters-in-law after all." She added, between her sobbing; her right hand pushing a strand of Katerina's hair behind her right ear. The blonde Original suddenly lowered her head; while wiping her cheeks of her tears; this was bringing too much painful memories inside of herself._

" _Ohhhhhhhhh…" Rebekah suddenly raised her head at the loud cry sound._

_Katerina's lifeless body strengthened into a sitting position; with her haggard eyes widely opened under her awakening condition._

" _What … What is happening?" The brunette stammered; while raising her trembling right hand over her chest._

" _I'm here with you, Katerina; don't freak out, ok?" Rebekah replied; to calm her down._

" _What happened to me?" The transitioned woman interrogated; while passing a hand through her tangled hair. "I … I feel strange; I have a pasty taste in my mouth; I grave for… I don't know…It's all so blurry in my mind?"_

" _Oh dear; you're back, and Elijah is not here…. Ok, don't panic Rebekah!" The blonde Original tried to regain her calm while mentally counting to ten. "Ok, listen to me, Katerina; you had an accident; you fell down the stairs, do you remember any of this?" She inquired; while gently cupping the young woman's face in her hands._

" _No… Wait, yes; maybe … I don't know." Katerina shook her head; before raising both hands on each side of her temples. "My head is hurting so much."_

" _Ok, it is normal … I mean … Don't move; stay in the bed as you are!" Rebekah suggested; while frantically rising on her legs to rush toward the bedroom door. "I'll call Elijah." She yelled her brother's name several times; before running out of the room and into the upstairs corridor of their Italian house._

* * *

" _Katerina, Katerina…" Elijah rushed inside the bedroom; while calling her name repeatedly; his tangled hair still wet from the shower. He had dressed himself in a hurry with a pair of beige trousers and a man blue shirt opened on his muscular chest, both of his feet shoeless._

_He frowned while narrowing his sight on the empty bed; before frantically scattering the room; it's only when he heard the low sobbing sound that he finally located his wife in the small space behind the furniture. She had curled herself in a corner of the room; placed behind a wooden dresser. Her legs were raised near her chest; and she was rocking herself; with her arms encircling her knees; her haggard sight kept in the emptiness in front of her._

" _Oh Katerina; my sweet girl …" Elijah kneeled near his wife; while slowly raising his right hand to brush a strand of her long brown hair. "I have you back; I thought I would lose my mind with worries; while waiting for you to wake-up… I was by your side every second of the night; I just stepped away for a few minutes to take a quick shower…" The original stammered through his explanation._

_She firmly pushed his hand away; while continuing to rock herself in rhythmic motion._

" _Katerina; you need …" He closed his eyes for a few seconds; before passing a hand through his humid hair. "You need to let me help you, beautiful."_

" _Go away! Leave me alone!" She mumbled, angrily; between her teeth._

" _I can't, my sweet beautiful wife; I could never leave you to yourself." Elijah shook his head. "Let me help; let me be with you … Let me explain?" He nervously passed a hand on his face._

" _I don't want your help; you've done more than enough already." She crawled on the wooden parquet to reach the opposite corner of the bedroom._

" _I … I was left with no other choices; please, just hear me out?" Elijah turned on his knees to face Katerina's new crawling position; it was now obvious to a deaf and blind that she was aware of her present condition._

" _I don't want to see you, speak to you or hear your voice ever again; leave me to die in peace." She whispered; toneless._

_Elijah startled at her say; his closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _You're disoriented; it's perfectly normal, in your present condition..." He explained, calmly. "You… You've been in an accident; we came to the conclusion that you had fallen down the stairs; and …"_

" _I know exactly what happen; you don't need to explain it to me." She cut him short. "I want you to leave me alone."_

" _Please, don't do this … I beg of you." Elijah shook his head, tears filling his eyes. "I … I was lost within myself; Katerina; you need to understand that all the decisions I took were out of concern for you."_

" _Like I've begged of you to never turn me?" She finally raised her puffy eyes and sight in Elijah's. "Like you've swore to me that you would never do it?"_

" _I… I've done what was necessary." He lowered his sight away from her insistent gaze, before rising on his legs to face the window; both shaking hands buried in the front pockets of this trouser. "And now; you'll need to feed or in one day; you'll die."_

" _Then I'll die!" Katerina busted to her husband's face. "That will be your karma for not fulfilling the only wish I ever asked from you."_

" _I did not turn you for you to die; I've turn you for you to live!" Elijah mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; before turning on himself to lower his fiery sight on his wife._

" _For me to live… You bastard! You call this living? I gave you more than I should have since I've married you, I've accepted more than any other human woman would have; and yet the only thing that I've ever wanted from you in return was to respect this small request." Katerina lashed out through her sobbing; while slowly rising on her shaking legs. "_

" _Katerina let me …" Elijah rushed by her side to help his wife in her vain attempt to regain strength in her body. "You'll need to drink blood, or…"_

" _Don't touch me!" She exclaimed, while pushing his hands away. "I won't drink a single drop of blood!" She mumbled, angrily; between her teeth, her fiery sight narrowed on the original._

" _I'll force the blood down on your throat if needed, and believe me I won't blink an eye under your vain protestation!" Elijah growled, uncompromising._

" _Oh I believe you!" Katerina replied, angrily; while leaning her frail body on the dresser; her hands resting on the wall to keep her balance. "I thought for the longest time that you were the honorable one in the family; and that Klaus was the insensitive one, what a surprise to realize that you were hiding this heartless monster underneath this image of perfection!"_

" _What were you expecting, Katerina?" Elijah lashed out; while pacing back and forth in front of her sight. "You were completely paralyzed!"_

" _You could have healed me with your blood!" Katerina presented her valid point._

" _It's complicated; for that to work; I needed to feed you of my blood several times; the healing would have probably taken days." He gestured nervously with his arms. "Would you have accepted my blood?"_

" _No." She shook her head; while reaching a nearby chair, before taking a sitting position on it; she was too weak to remain in a standing position._

" _Then why are we discussing?" Elijah asked, in a louder tone of voice. "You think I did not hate myself afterward? You think I was not filled with remorse? Well, you're thinking wrong!"_

" _I begged of you to let me die!" Katerina busted back at him. "You should have let me die!"_

" _Explain to me how I could have let the woman that I love die, how?" He exclaimed in front of her speechless expression, before holding his pace and drowning his sight in hers. "I was not able to do it, Katerina ... The single thought of living without you, I couldn't handle it." He shook his head; before closing his eyes._

" _What did you just say?" Katerina asked; completely in shock of hearing those words being pronounce by her husband's lips._

" _What are those loud cries that I'm hearing?" Maria entered the bedroom; before turning his sight from Elijah to Katerina. "Oh, Miss Katerine, you're awake?" She exclaimed, while approaching the young woman's sitting position, before encircling her waist to help her raise on her two legs. "You need to lie down on the bed to regain your strength." She ordered the young woman._

" _Maria…" Katerina allowed the maid to carry her toward the bed. "I'm so glad you're here."_

" _Leave!" Maria ordered her son; dryly._

" _But, I only … I wanted to help…" Elijah tried to explain to his mother, while swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _Not now; it's not the time for you to help her." Maria shook her head; while gesturing toward the bedroom door._

_Elijah nodded his head, sadness filling his eyes and heart; with his walking steps leading him to the exit of the room, before closing the door on its arch behind his back._

" _Oh my sweet child, let me help you lie down, ok?" Maria proposed, before slowly dropping Katerina's upper body on her pillow._

" _My life is a mess; it's a total mess, Maria." Katerina mumbled through her sobbing; tears rolling fluently on her cheeks. "I don't want this, I never wanted this."_

" _Shush… Don't worry about anything; It will get better, you'll see." Maria tried to calm her down, before grabbing a humid cloth in a porcelain bowl to pass it on the young woman's forehead to refresh her. "You need to rest for a few hours; you'll have time to make a wise decision afterward; I'll be here when you'll wake up."_

" _You promise?" Katerina whispered, with her heavy eyelids slowly closing on her sight._

" _I promise my child; I promise that I'll stay by your side." Maria murmured; while softly caressing Katerina's hair to help her fall asleep._

* * *

" _She regained consciousness!" Rebekah exclaimed, while passing the threshold of the opened terrace._

_Stefan Salvatore raised his sight from the newspaper he was holding in his left hand; while lowering his cup of coffee on the glass table._

" _Katerina is in transition?" He questioned; while rising on both of his legs._

" _Yes, it seems that way." Rebekah nodded her head; while nervously rubbing her hands together and pacing back and forth in front of the young vampire._

" _It will surely take time for her to accommodate herself to the idea, Rebekah; but she has your mother on her side, her own sister; and most importantly she has Elijah, her husband." Stefan tried to calm the Original down._

" _Well, that is what I'm worried about; she won't forgive him so easily; I should know that." She continued her pacing._

" _Rebekah?" Stefan called her name; while holding her pace by grabbing both of her shoulders. "Stop this! Stop feeling guilty for this, ok? None of it is your fault; you had no idea of the outcome."_

" _I was resentful of what my father had done to us for so long, Stefan; I never wanted "this"; I wanted to live a normal life; and instead I was forced into becoming what I hated most of myself the past centuries." She confessed; tears filling her eyes._

" _I know." Stefan nodded his head, compassionate; while raising his right hand to softly caress her cheeks. "But you can't blame yourself for this; you simply can't, Rebekah; what's done is done and … Katerina will have to learn to live with her vampirism as of now."_

" _I'll try to be there for Katerina; it's the least I can do." She shrugged, a tears rolling on her cheek._

" _If you continue to act in such a nice way, I'll start to like you again; and then I'll set myself into big trouble, once more." He mocked, while winking at her._

" _It's an act!" Rebekah raised her sight in his; a timid smile blessing her lips._

" _Of course it is." Stefan returned her smile; before blessing her forehead of a sweet kiss._

" _Fuck this!" They heard Klaus's swearing as he walked out on the terrace; before throwing the letter on the glass table._

" _What's with you?" Rebekah turned on her heels to stare at her brother. "Katerina woke up by the way."_

" _Well, that is at least good news." Klaus growled, while nervously passing a hand through his tangled morning hair._

" _What is this?" Stefan asked; his hands grabbing the piece of paper, while his eyes were quickly reading the few lines written on it. "You got to be kidding me? Tell me that she's kidding?"_

" _Does it look like she is kidding?" Klaus replied, dryly, his steps leading him to pace back and forth on the length of the terrace; his closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _Will one of you tell me what is going on?" Rebekah lashed out, while nervously gesturing with her arms._

" _Carolina left!" Klaus announced, unceremonioulsy; while sighing loudly._

" _What? Why would she leave you, when her sister just had a lethal accident, it makes no sense at all?" Rebekah replied, dumbfounded._

" _She did not leave her sister behind; she's informing your brother, black on white, in this letter, that she is returning to her natal country." Stefan replied; while passing his right hand on his face._

" _What? Why would she go back to Russia, it makes no …. Oh no, tell me it's not what I think it is?!" Rebekah asked, while finally realizing the truth._

" _She's heading to meet with Petrov; she wants all of this to come to an end." Stefan confirmed, while nodding his head. "For her the past events were caused by Klaus's father retaliation."_

" _But, this is suicidal! She's the only human left among us." Rebekah exclaimed; in shock. "Klaus, what are you going to do; you can't leave Carolina in the hands of Ludvig; he'll make a mouthful of that little lamb?"_

" _Of course I won't leave "my" wife in the hands of that lunatic! And don't worry for Carolina; she stronger that you give her credit for; it's her who will make a mouthful of this beast. I'm leaving; the plane is taking off for Moscow in a few hours." Klaus replied, while grabbing the guard rail with both hands. "I think it's time that my father and I come face to face." He added, dryly._

" _You're not leaving without me." Stefan informed, uncompromisingly._

" _Yes, I am. You'll stay here, I don't want you mix in all of this." Klaus shook his head._

" _Are you kidding me? I'm already mix in all of this; and don't forget that Petrov is holding my brother as prisoner in that manor; I won't leave him there, as you won't leave Carolina to his mercy." Stefan explained to his friend; while reaching the hybrid's standing position, his sight lost in his._

" _Fine then, Salvatore; let's go!" Klaus agreed; while turning on himself to rush inside the house with Stefan's steps close on his heels._

" _Klaus, Stefan …. Please, be careful – Come back in one piece would you? Try to keep yourself out of trouble." Rebekah wished the both of them well._

* * *

" _Oh for God sake; can I take a walk alone without you following every of my steps?" Bonnie rolled her eyes to the blue sky; while strolling between the pedestrians on the sidewalk._

" _What part of: you can't leave the premises of the manor or my side; did you not understood yesterday night?" Kol growled, unhappy; while grabbing the right hand of the young witch, before pulling her toward a quiet and deserted alley. "In all my long vampire life, I've never met a woman as stubborn as you, Bonnie Bennett!"_

" _Well, this abduction of yours sounds like "déjà vu", would you say?" Bonnie squirmed to pull her hand away from his strong grip; before being pushed on the bricks wall behind her back. "And what part of: you're not my guardian, you don't comprehend, Kol? I'm my own person; no one has a grip on me!" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _So what about last night, you'll sweep "that" underneath the rug too, I gather?" Kol asked, unceremoniously._

" _I don't know what you're talking about." She crossed her arms in front of her chest; raised chin and redness reaching both of her cheeks._

" _Well, darling, let me refresh your memory then." He smirked; while lowering his left forearm on the wall near Bonnie's head; before tracing with the tip of his right hand fingers the delicate line of her jaw. "You offered to have sex with me, only to fell asleep before granted me of your part of the bargain; with your naked body glued to mine the all night; not that I'm complaining, darling … It was very enjoyable." He whispered seductively near her right ear; while grabbing her chin. "But you left like a thief in the early morning, or worst like a woman who had a bad one night stand! Which I can assure you; if we had done the deed you would be asking for more of my "services" as we speak now." He added, a smirk spreading on his manly lips._

" _Oh that... " She exclaimed, falsely indifferent; while pushing on Kol's chest to escape the parameter of his imprisonment; before placing herself at a few feet of distance. "It was a one-time offer; I was bored and felt bad for Katerina's accident. And since last night, time had passed, and the deal is not on the table anymore, as easy as that!" She shrugged; while reprising her walk out of the alley; back on the sidewalk, with the vampire on her heels._

" _What? No, no, no, no … That is not how it works at all, darling; you can't come back on your words! I gave you an out of jail card yesterday, because we were both tired, but …" Kol stammered through his response, while waving a finger at her. "You promised me something, and now you'll fulfill your part of the bargain!"_

_Bonnie held her pace; a dumbfounded expression plastered on her face, with her head turned toward Kol. She suddenly leaned her head backward to burst into laughter._

" _And what is so funny, if I may ask?" Kol crossed his arms in front of his chest; while narrowing his sight on the young woman._

" _Man, you're so last century: Me, I'm Tarzan – You, you're Jane; and you'll do as I say!" Bonnie imitated Kol's voice; while raising her shoulders and sticking out her chest; closed fists placed on each side of her hips. "Hahaha… This is hilarious!" She added between her laughter; while reprising her walk._

" _I'm lacking to see the hilarity in all of this?" Kol commented; dryly._

" _Yah, that doesn't surprise me; from your high pedestal you're probably not even seeing the tips of your own feet." Bonnie rolled her eyes, once more. "Listen; if ever I want to put the deal back on the table; I'll let you know, I promise." She mocked, gently. "But for now I have other fish to fries!" She added._

" _Can you give me an approximate date of our "hook-up" at least?" Kol asked, teaser but hopeful._

" _You're joking, right?" She glanced at him; while shaking her head in disbelief._

" _Well, you know… It's kind of obvious to a blind that you backed out of the deal because you're too attracted to me; and afraid of developing an addiction to this." He shrugged his shoulders, while pointing both hands toward his muscular body, a rictus raising both corners of his mouth. "Therefore, I can already predict that you'll be knocking on my door soon enough."_

" _Yes, you're so right! I … I have to admit it, I want you so much and …" Bonnie stopped her walking pace, her sight drowned in Kol's. "And look!" She pointed toward the sunny sky. "There's a cow flying in the sky!" She exclaimed, while pointing a finger upward, before leaving the young vampire speechless, with his sight rose toward the above clouds._

" _You're a mean witch, Bonnie Bennett." Kol ran to reach her pace again._

" _I've been called worse!" She shrugged; while trying to hold a smile from spreading on her lips. "Now I suppose that you won't stop following me."_

" _Nope; we are glued to the hips, darling!" He replied; a smirk raising both corners of his manly lips._

" _Ok, then…I won't have any other choices but to fill you in, then?" She sighed, while turning on her heels to face him. "I … I've tried to make contact with a young woman in Milan, that is herself a granddaughter of one witch who had been in contact with my own ancestor."_

" _So, the grandmother of that woman is linked to your own witch heritage?" Kol asked, suddenly interested._

" _Yes." Bonnie nodded. "Her name is Aurora Russio Bianchi, and; when I spoke to her yesterday, she was reluctant to talk to me about where my powers were coming from; she advised me to forget about it."_

" _A bit strange, don't you think? If you consider she has the same heritage than you." Kol shrugged, intrigued._

" _She basically begged me to leave her alone; but this morning I receive a message delivered at the manor to my attention; written by her own hands." Bonnie explained; while pulling a folded envelope from her jeans' back pocket. "Here it is? She seems in some sort of hurry to speak to me now."_

" _Are you sure this message is coming from her?" Kol questioned; while unfolding the piece of paper._

" _Well, I left my contact address in her mailbox, and it's seems legit?" Bonnie shrugged._

" _It's written in Italian; she's telling you to hurry up that there is no time left?" Kol frowned._

" _I know; I've asked Isabella to translate it to me earlier this morning." Bonnie informed._

" _You were up with the rooster and the chickens?" Kol mocked, teaser._

" _It's really funny!" Bonnie rolled her eyes, while pulling the paper from his hands; before refolding it in her back pocket._

" _Well, we'll go see this Aurora then." He invited the young witch to reprise her walk with a hand gesture._

" _But that's the thing; you're a … Well, you know…" She murmured; while bending her upper body near him. "I'm not sure you'll be welcome in her home?"_

" _Well, if she wants to see "you"; she'll have to see "me" as well, I suppose." Kol replied, uncompromisingly._

* * *

_Carolina had known the minute she had presented herself at the boarding counter of Milan's airport that giving her real birth name would retrace the information directly to Ludvig Petrov; and that a welcoming committee would wait for her at the airport._

_In order to not disappoint her initial prevision; a few of Ludvig's men were standing behind the security glasses; their sights kept anonymous behind dark sunglasses. They had politely ordered her to follow them; while grabbing both of her upper arms; only to drag the young woman toward a black limousine. It's in silence that she had taken a sitting position; while being completely blindsided with a black silk scarf. And after a ride of a few hours, she was dragged into a series of large corridors inside this majestic Manor; in the countryside of Russia. Two guards opened two large French doors, before gently pushing the "guest" inside a parlor room_

" _Алло Carolina!" A Russian man greeted the young woman, in her native language. "Did you have a nice flight?"_

_Carolina frowned; accommodating her eyes to the penumbra of the room, before narrowing her sight on the tall, and dark brown curly hair, vampire man that was standing in front of her. Something told her that this man couldn't be Ludvig Petrov, his second in command, perhaps?_

" _Are you Ludvig Petrov?" She asked, dryly and unceremoniously in English; her chin rose in a confrontational gesture; under the loud sound of her heart pounding in rapid pace inside her chest._

" _No, my dear; he's not – I am!" A loud and hoarse voice responded to her questioning. "You can leave us alone now, Alexay." The man ordered; while slowly coming out of the penumbra of his standing position near the fire mantle._

" _I'll do as you wish, Petrov." The said Alexay saluted his first commander; before making a reverence in front of Carolina. "Miss Carolina." He saluted as well; his steps leading him outside the room; both doors being closed behind his back a second later._

_Carolina raised her sight in the one of the imposing man that was taking a few steps to reach her standing position, with_ _drops of sweat rolling on each side of her temples. She held her hands together in front of her body; her eyelids slowly closing under the pressure; her chest rising under the deep breaths she was taking into her lungs._

_There were no question to be asked anymore; this man was undeniably Klaus's father; if only for the aura his presence emanated in the room. Carolina reopened her eyes; while slowly raising her sight back in Petrov's. He was tall; with a muscular chest and very large shoulders; his dark brown eyes, his wavy dark blond longer locks at the base of his neck, and his scruff was adding more feathers to his dark seductive image. Carolina could easily understand why Maria, or should she name her Esther now; had fallen under the charm of this powerful man._

" _You're a beautiful woman, Carolina; my son has good taste." Ludvig commented, politely; his fiery side sliding from her head to her toes. "Can I offer you a drink?" He suddenly proposed; while leading his steps toward a console table._

" _I'm not … I mean I don't drink blood." She shook her head, uncomfortable; while swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _Of course you don't; that is why I was offering you a glass of alcohol, coffee, tea, orange juice, or soft drinks, at your taste and convenience?" Ludvig replied, amused; while letting a rictus raise both corners of his manly his lips. "Your candor and innocence is certainly a breath of fresh air in these closed walls, Carolina." He commented more._

" _Oh course you meant that…" The young woman sighed at her stupid assumption. "But, no; thank you I don't want anything from you."_

" _Suit yourself; and please feel free to ask me if you change your mind." The imposing Russian man suggested; his hands pouring coffee in a cup with a drop of rum in it. "You're sure you're not changing your mind?" He turned his head to take a quick glimpse at Carolina; while addressing her, a seductive smile._

" _No." She shook her head once more._

" _Fine then; do you want to sit?" He suggested; while pointing his right hand toward a leather armchair._

" _No." She declined once more._

" _Carolina, if I wanted to harm you in any way, you would probably be dead as of now; while lying in your own blood at my feet; so please sit!" He ordered her, gently; but ordered her nonetheless._

_She took a sitting position on the armchair; straight as an "I" with her joined hands placed on her lap._

" _And I don't have the habit to brutalize beautiful woman who are in my company; more so if I'm sipping my coffee; I doubt that I will jump your bones like a wolf?" Ludvig raised an eyebrow, his sight narrowed on his visitor. "Sit comfortably!" He ordered more._

_Carolina lowered her upper body on the back of the armchair; while appreciating the comfort and luxury of the seat._

" _So my dear, what pushed you to take such a gambling move? You've returned to your own country, Russia; while perfectly knowing that I was trying to locate my son and his family?" Ludvig questioned; while dropping his cup on a near side table; his hands now joined in front of his face; with his sight narrowed on her. "I doubt that my son "Klaus" was even aware of your present plan; or obviously you wouldn't stand in front of my sight at the moment."_

" _If you would have had the chance to kidnap me to bring your son to you; like you did with Maria; would you have done it?" Carolina asked the imposing man, unceremoniously._

" _Yes, I would." He nodded, truthful._

" _Would you have killed me?" She asked; tear starting to fill her eyelids. "After all I'm human, a simple collateral damage.'_

" _No, I would never kill you, Carolina." Petrov respond; while taking a deep breath into his lungs. "My son has obviously developed strong feelings for you; I wouldn't gain anything by killing you, but his resentment and hate. That is not what I want from him."_

" _This war of yours, this vendetta between your new species and my husband's family just cost me my sister." Carolina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth, her closed fists kept on each side of her tensed body. "You're playing this stupid war game, with no respect for the humans. I came to the conclusion that we were only pawns in your hands; and I'm not ready to pass the rest of my life hiding or keeping an eye behind my back in case you would find us."_

" _Your sister, you mean Katerina, did she die?" Petrov straightened his upper body; with a tone of concern in his voice._

" _She had … She had an accident, she fell down the stairs and she is paralyzed now; and I don't know … I guess she'll be in transition soon; if she is not already." Carolina responded; her breathing quickened under the strong emotion. "If … If we hadn't run away from your attacks; she would probably still be human at the present moment."_

" _Those said attacks were just a mean to an end. It was a necessary evil to make you leave London; and cross the ocean toward Russia." Petrov exclaimed agitated; while rising on his legs, only to pace back and forth in the parlor room. "You are far from being naïve, Carolina that much I can see; and believe me I wouldn't lay my hands on either your sister or yourself, but you just gave me the information of where my son and his family are located the minute you've boarded that plane."_

" _You won't have to come to him; he'll come to you, isn't it what you wanted the day you abducted his own mother?" Carolina lashed out; while rising on her legs. "Give me one reason why my sister and I should continue to run from you? Why we should continue to be at the receiving end of all these unfortunate events that your selfish vendetta will create on our path of life?"_

" _I would have never hurt my "Ingrid", she is everything to me!" He busted; while hitting is closed right fist on his muscular chest._

" _Ingrid?" Carolina frowned; dumbfounded._

" _Maria; Esther or whatever other names she is calling herself since we've met more than a thousand years ago." He waived his right hand, in a dismissal gesture. "You do realize, my dear; that uniting your life to two of the original vampires, one of them being my son, could only mean that sooner or later you would have to turn as one; and this has certainly nothing to do with me or what is taking place in the supernatural world?!"_

" _Yes!" Carolina nodded. "I'm not stupid, I chose my faith the day I united my life to your son, but that doesn't meant that we have to be chase by you all the time; I've decided for everybody else that this would end now! You are weak if you give your enemy the power to let you think that you are."_

_Petrov raised his right hand to his face; while stroking his eyelids to regain his countenance. Only a few people counted on one hand had the touch to shake the solid foundations underneath his feet; but this young human woman had more fire in herself than an army of werewolves!_

" _So; we'll wait for my son arrival in Russia then, Carolina." Petrov nodded his head. "In the meantime; please grant me the pleasure to accommodate you of a bedroom suite; and of decent meal. I mean food, naturally; and I give your my words of honor that the food is safe for you to eat." He proposed; before seeing the young woman nodding her head in approval._

* * *

" _Hey, are you here? You know, when I've suggested another kind of play game between the two of us; I never thought you would take my words for it, and I certainly did not envision this?" Damon yelled into the room; while swallowing a lump in his throat._

_He had been dragged from the dungeon to the master bedroom suite of Miss Princess Anastassia; denuded of his clothes; redressed with a black leather brief; attached wrists and ankles with metal handcuffs and chains, to the four pillar of the gigantic canopy bed._

" _You wanted to play; let's play, boy!" Anastassia passed the threshold of her master bathroom; dressed of a black leather corset, skinny pants; and black high heels; while holding a leather whip in her hands; her lustrous red hair floating on her shoulders with each calculated step she took toward the bed. "You like what you're saying?" She asked, a smirk raising both side of her lustrous red lips._

" _What's not to like?" Damon responded, his fiery sight sliding on her amazing silhouette._

" _I don't know? Sometimes, I'm an insecure and shy girl, you know?" She whispered, while lowering her upper body and deep cleavage in front of Damon's sight._

" _You, shy? Yes; I can certainly see it." Damon let a grin appeared on his face._

" _But; I'm learning to change for the better, and with your help I could transform myself into a naughty bitch? Would you like that?" Anastassia rolled-play her character traits with brio, with the tip of her whip slowly sliding on the young vampire's jaw._

" _Detached me, Anastassia?" Damon ordered the young woman; his eyes narrowed on the beauty in front of his sight._

" _Why would I do such a thing? You think I'm an idiot?" She raised one of her perfect tweezed eyebrows; while lowering her head and lips at a near inch of distance from his._

" _Because I want to kiss you badly; like I've never wanted to kiss a woman before." Damon confessed, honestly; while mouthing the words in top of her reddish lips._

" _You don't need your hands to do that." Anastassia mouthed in reply, before crashing her mouth on his; under the young vampire's sudden cry of surprise and pleasure._

* * *

_From afar they could hear an acute loud sound of doors being slammed into their arches, followed by a few of the guards' bodies falling noisily on the wooden floor._

" _Could it be "him"?" Alexay raised an eyebrow; his eyes glancing toward Petrov's position near the fire mantle._

" _We don't have to question ourselves, Alexay; it is "him"!" Petrov replied, smirking; with a tone of certainty. "You've made sure that none of the guards would hurt him, did you?"_

" _Yes!" Petrov's first hand man confirmed, nodding his head. "They have been ordered to show just enough resistance to make it plausible."_

" _Perfect!" Petrov's replied, still smiling._

_A foot-kick in the panels of the French doors reasoned in their ears, making the two men turned their heads simultaneously toward the main entrance of the parlor room._

" _Имя самостоятельно, или умереть – I order you to name yourself or die?" Alexay ordered the intruder in both languages; while grabbing a sword placed on the wall._

" _The name is Klaus Mikaelson, I think your "boss" is waiting for me; and please, see the fuck that I give about your threat!" Klaus responded; while grabbing Alexay by the throat; raising the man's body in the air, before throwing it at the opposite side of the large room._

_Alexay landed on a service table with an acute sound of broken glasses and plates, under the amusement of Petrov, who stood at a few feet of distance of the scene, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and a smile plastered on his face._

" _Klaus, Klaus, Klaus … Why are you always so impolite when invited by others?" Stefan Salvatore questioned his friend, mockingly; while crossing the threshold of the parlor room._

" _What can I say, Stefan; I like to make an entrance worth of a king." Klaus mocked, while narrowing his sight on the imposing man who stood at a near distance of their own standing positions._

" _The name is Stefan Salvatore, if you're wondering; I've heard that you were retaining my brother against his will." Stefan presented himself and reason of his presence; while nodding in direction of Klaus's father. "And you are?" He added, teaser._

" _Klaus…" Ludvig Petrov exclaimed, proudly; before reaching his son's standing position. Both of their chins rose as confrontational gesture; with their fiery sights narrowed on each other. "My son, we finally meet!" He added with a tone of proudness in his voice._

* * *

" _Aurora it's me; Bonnie Bennett."_ _She announced herself; while gently knocking on the panel of the entrance door. "I… I received your written message; I want to speak to you, can you open the door, please?"_

" _Who's with you?" Bonnie heard the young Italian woman asked through the panel._

" _It's a friend; he won't hurt you, I give you my words." Bonnie promised; while taking a quick glance at Kol; who was standing silently by her side._

_The door finally unlocked and Bonnie pushed the panel to carefully taking her first steps inside, with the Original close on her heels._

_Kol closed the panel behind his back; while scattering the Italian kitchen; before turning on himself to face a brunette holding an arc with long pointed darts._

" _You take one more step toward me; and I'll enter this in your heart!" Aurora threatened Kol._

" _Wow, wow… Darling, just calm down would you; I don't want to harm you in any way!" Kol raised both of his hands in front of his chest._

" _Aurora; he won't hurt you; I can assure you." Bonnie reassured the young Italian._

" _He's a vampire, his all nature is to hurt human." The Italian replied, dryly._

" _Well technically he's more than a vampire; he's an original one; and he can't be killed by what you're holding in your hands." Bonnie confirmed; while swallowing a lump in her throat. "Please, lower your weapon; you think that I would be with him if I would not trust him?"_

" _You trust me?" Kol turned his head, a smile spreading on his lips._

" _Shut up!" Bonnie responded to him; while rolling her eyes._

" _He's one of the Originals? Which one, Klaus, Elijah…" Aurora questioned._

" _I see you know quite a lot about my family; and no I'm neither … I'm the handsome one in the family, my name is Kol." He presented himself, a grin spreading on his lips._

_Aurora lowered her weapon; before dropping it on the wooden kitchen table._

" _What is going on Aurora, yesterday you basically told me to leave and to never bother you again about my witch heritage; and today … You summoned me to come back to your home?" Bonnie questioned._

" _It's the Vatican." The young woman started to pace back and forth in the narrowed room; while nervously biting into her bottom lips._

" _What?" Both Kol and Bonnie exclaimed, in synchronisation and surprise._

" _What does the Vatican has to do with my heritage?" Bonnie asked, dumbfounded._

" _Your grandmother and my grandmother were secretly working for the Vatican." Aurora confessed, surprisingly._

" _I thought the Vatican was against dark forces. Back in the day; black and white magic were oftentimes seen as the same?" Kol shrugged; dumbfounded._

" _They were this secret sorority of witches from all around the word, at that time no one knew they were hired by the Vatican." Aurora continued explaining, while nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _For what purposes would the Vatican hired witches?" Bonnie asked, in anticipation._

" _Bringing down the supernatural world once in for all." Aurora continued explaining. "They wanted to get rid of all supernatural species."_

" _Call me crazy, but aren't witches a supernatural species?" Kol pointed toward the young woman._

" _Yes, they are; but for them it was a way to control the devil by using his hands." Aurora added as a figure of speech. "But it backfired on them; the witches turned against the Vatican, only to found their own deaths in suspicious ways."_

" _How did you grandmother died?" Kol asked Bonnie._

" _She … She was found death in her own living room." Bonnie shrugged._

" _I bet she had no health problem?" Aurora questioned._

" _She had no problem that I know of." Bonnie shook her head._

" _What are you trying to tell us, Aurora?" Kol asked; while narrowing his sight on the Italian woman._

" _It's simple, Kol; The Vatican had rallied the most powerful witches in the world, once more; to kill all supernatural species." Aurora announced, unceremoniously; her chest rising over her heavy breaths._

" _Shit!" Kol exclaimed; with a mouth opened expression plastered on his face; before turning his head to face a speechless Bonnie. "I believe we just found worst threat than Ludvig Petrov!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important writer's message: please take into good note that I'll be taking a time-off (spring / summer hiatus) from this story for a period of a few weeks. I have life obligations coming at me all at once (move, possible new job); and I want to take care of those before coming back to a calmer time and reprising this story. Thanks a lot, guys; for your understanding and comprehension.


	24. Welcome to Russia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers, or any of their personal experiences. Also, due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story, that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

_**Russia, Petrov's mansion…** _

" _Don't have the pretension to call me your son." Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; his fiery sight locked in Petrov's. "For me you're nothing more than an annoying problem that needs to be dismissed, at the present moment."_

" _What should I call you then, Klaus; Mikael's son, perhaps? Would you prefer that?" Ludvig replied, perniciously; a rictus raising the right side of his lips. "I've heard his relationship with you was everything but a fatherly one, am I mistaking?"_

" _Pot calling the kettle much?" Stefan rolled his eyes, a loud sigh escaping his lips._

" _What an interesting expression, Mister Salvatore." The Russian hybrid smirked, pointing a finger in direction of the vampire; before turning on his heels to lead his steps toward the bar. "Are you by any chance comparing Mikael Mikaelson with myself; what an enormous error you're making, young, foolish vampire."_

" _Fuck!" Alexay growled, while getting back on his feet, his right hand rising to wipe the trickle of blood running down from his opened bottom lip to his chin. "Your son certainly has your fighting skills, Petrov."_

" _Oh, look at you, all bruised! Would you care for a handkerchief?" Stefan mocked, while pulling a white piece of cotton and lace from the inside of his leather jacket. "What?" The young vampire stared at Klaus, who glanced with a smirk and an arched eyebrow in his friend's direction. "It belongs to your sister. I thought that perhaps Mister…"_

" _Alexay…" Petrov's right arm man mumbled, between his teeth._

" _Thank you. I thought that perhaps, Mister Alexay, would share the same feminine taste than your sister?" Stefan pushed the note, shrugging._

" _N_ _ошел на хуй_ _!_ _" Alexay swore in his natal language, trace of rage perceived in his tone of voice, his fists placed on each side of his tensed body, slowly retracing his steps toward Stefan's position._

" _Oh dear, I think Mister Alexay is not happy." Stefan winced, mockingly._

" _I can see why you're friend with Mister Salvatore; he would obviously die in honor of your friendship." Petrov mentioned to his son, pointing in the vampire direction, once more. "I see so much of my younger self in you, Klaus." He confessed._

" _That's promising." Stefan rolled his eyes, while sighing loudly._

" _You're a "king" in the making, proud, courageous, strong… You stare at the danger in the eyes, without even blinking once, am I mistaking?" Ludvig smirked, vodka being poured in two additional glasses._

" _Is there a point to all of this? Or is it because you love hearing the sound of your own voice?" Klaus sighed loudly, impatient._

_Petrov glanced at his biological son, surprised by his set of nerves; before leaning his head back a second later to burst into laughter._

" _I obviously lay aside "impetuous"." Ludvig added, winking. "Tell me, Klaus; putting aside your eternal status, would you also die for someone?"_

_Klaus swallowed a lump in his throat; not oftentimes in his long life he has had the chance to stand across the room of a man, a real opponent, with such an imposing aura of power than his biological father. But, he would force out his own heart out of his chest before giving that man the pleasure to see in his eyes the mixed feelings he was creating in himself._

" _Where's my wife?" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; taking an extra step to stand face to face with the Russian man._

" _She is safe and sound; I would never think of hurting the most precious thing in my son's life." Ludvig replied, his chin rose, his fiery sight lost in Klaus's. "And, I would never hurt your mother as well."_

" _Doubtful considering you'd kidnapped her under false pretences under my roof." Klaus busted to his father's face._

" _Klaus you must know by now, that men like us are obligated to take certain… How should I put it? Let say, measures to obtain what they want." Petrov replied, with a dryer tone of voice; before handing a glass of vodka to his son._

_Klaus let a loud growl sound escape his lips; his left hand brushing the glass in a burst of anger, in a shrill noise of broken crystal hitting the fire brick wall._

" _Let me see my wife, now!" He repeated, wincing._

" _I see…" Petrov commented, pulling a handkerchief from one of his vest pockets, before wiping drops of vodka on his hand. "I obviously omit: "hot-tempered" as well."_

_Alexay took a few steps toward his master, before being held immobile with a hand gesture from the said man._

" _It's ok, Alexay, Me and my son, we are getting acquainted to one another." Petrov added, smirking._

" _While we are on the subject of missing person, can I be informed of my brother whereabouts in this palace?" Stefan asked, teaser._

" _Your brother is now the property of my daughter, Anastassia, Mister Salvatore." Petrov declared; content to see Klaus raising an eyebrow at the appellation of the young woman. "Yes, you have another sister, Klaus, as "hot-tempered" as you are, if I may add." He added. "Damon Salvatore betrayed my trust; therefore I gave him, as a gift, to my daughter for her to decide of his fate."_

" _And where can I find this delightful creature?" Stefan asked, sarcastically._

" _I'll let my guards bring the both of you to both Carolina and Damon." Ludvig informed, while clapping in his hands to alert a few guards to enter._

" _And then we'll be out of your way." Stefan commented. "I would say it was a pleasure, but it was not … so…"_

" _Doubtful, Mister Salvatore, you wouldn't think of refusing my invitation, would you?" Petrov asked, good player._

" _Spill it!" Klaus ordered, shameless to hurt their host's feelings. "What do you want from us?"_

" _I'm hosting a dinner party tomorrow night to introduce my beloved son to my entourage; I hope that you and your entire family could join me for the festivities?" Petrov proposed._

_Klaus stared at the Russian man for a few seconds, before leaning his head back to burst into laughter._

" _That's your way of making a joke I suppose?" He commented to his father._

" _I don't think he's joking, Klaus." Stefan added, sighing loudly._

" _And what if we decline your, oh so thoughtful invitation?" Klaus questioned, raised chin, eyes narrowed on Petrov._

" _Well, like I was saying earlier, then I'll have no other choices than the last resort to take certain measures to obtain what I want, will I?" Ludvig teased, good player. "I give my words of honor that I'll harm no one of your friends and family, can we agree to that?" He stared into his son glance._

" _Your words of honor are worth nothing to me." Klaus replied, dryly._

" _But they are to me." Petrov replied, uncompromisingly, before signing and ordering his guards with a hand gesture to bring them to both Carolina and Damon._

* * *

_For Damon Salvatore, it was a blessing in disguise that he was not obligated to breathe to keep his vampire-self alive, or he would have died from lack of oxygen inside his lungs. Anastassia Petrov was in fire and very, very greedy, a woman who demanded nothing else but her lover's total obedience. That much, Damon had figured it out!_

_Unfortunately for him, he had always been the one in total control of his bedding conquests, and this present situation left him both frustrated of losing all his power, and eager at the same time to let her do whatever she wanted with his body. Her mouth was sucking his lips in the most intense and passionate way, with her tongue frantically searching, playing and twirling with his, in a battle that would proclaim no winner._

" _Detach me, Anastassia, now!" Damon growled in a mix of arousal and pain, feeling her teeth biting into the tender flesh of his bottom lips; before licking the trickle of blood escaping the snick._

" _Who's the dominatrix now, my sweet Damon, mm?" Anastassia whispered, lusciously; sliding her lips on the left side of his neck, in a mix of licking and biting, purposely rubbing her hot core on his obvious, predominant bulge, only covered by this ridiculous leather brief._

" _Detach me and I promise to show you who can dominate who?" Damon suggested, suddenly left under her sensual spell. "I want to make love to you, baby."_

" _I prefer to be the one on top of things, Damon, with you underneath me, obedient and docile.' Anastassia responded, before lowering her head on his bare chest to gently bite his right nipple. Oh she was good! She was so fucking good!_

_A discreet knock on the door startled the red-hair bombshell, with her sight turning toward the guard who had passed his head between the arch and the panel._

" _Жди меня в коридоре" She ordered the guard to wait for her outside, before jumping off the bed._

" _Ansastassia, you won't leave me here like this, will you?" Damon asked, worried eyes; while pulling on his restrains. "Not without finishing what you've started, right baby?" He smirked, hopeful._

" _Shush, Damon." Anastassia winked, while placing one of her fingers on his parted lips; before retracing her steps toward the bedroom door, the panel closing on her back a second later, while leaving him in this awkward lying position._

" _Anastassia!" Damon's loud yell reasoned in the mansion corridor._

* * *

_Elijah slowly pushed the panel of the bedroom door, before taking his first steps inside, a silver platter being held in his hands._

" _Katerina?" He called his wife name, softly, while scattering the room for her presence. He knew that she was inside; Maria had just left her side an hour ago._

_The subtle creak sound of the bathroom door being opened on its arch suddenly attracted his attention toward the white spectre of his wife. Her skin was white as the snow covering the London streets in winter, she had dark circles under her eyes, and her usual svelte silhouette looked thinner and frailer than usual. She was obviously rejecting her transition with all the strength she got left in her. She suddenly raised her eyes at him, a mixed of anger and disdain filling her sight._

" _I … I brought you breakfast." Elijah informed, toneless; before dropping the silver platter on the bedspread. "I … There's regular food and a blood bag."_

" _I don't want any of it." Katerina replied, dryly; while dragging her feet to reach the window, both hands rising to slowly open the curtains, before jumping aback at the first burn of the sun._

" _Katerina, you can't!" Elijah exclaimed to warn his wife, suddenly rushing by her side, alerted by her cries of pain. He promptly closed the curtains, providing a sudden appeasing penumbra in the room._

" _Oh God, it hurts!" She complained, tears rolling on both cheeks, her body falling on the carpet, with her knees raised to her chest._

" _Oh sweet woman, what did you do to yourself?" Elijah kneeled by Katerina's side, his hands trying to palpate her burns, while noticing with relief that it was minor, and would disappear rapidly._

" _Leave me alone!" She busted, frantically pushing his hands away from her skin._

" _Katerina, I just want to help you, let me help you, please?" Elijah begged her._

" _Fuck you!" The Russian girl lashed out, blue veins appearing around her eyes, under her burst of rage. "And get out of this room!"_

_Elijah let a growl escape his lips; jumping back on his straight legs, before pacing back and forth in front of the bed, with his closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _You're acting in an irrational manner, Katerina!" He disputed; nervously passing his right hand into his tangled hair. "You're in transition to become a vampire, woman, you need to drink blood!" He added, dryly; while pointing toward the tray. "Or, at the risk of repeating my say, for the hundreds of times, you'll die!"_

" _Wouldn't it be the perfect revenge for me to die, making my death weight on your shoulders and conscience for eternity?" She let a nervous and sadistic laugh escape her._

" _You're being mean and unreasonable." Elijah winced at her say._

" _Oh this is precious!" Katerina busted, while slowly and painfully rising on her feet. "You're … You're a hypocrite, Elijah." She grabbed the edge of a dresser to keep her equilibrium. "I'm mean? Are you serious? I've asked you for one favor to never turn me as a vampire, and next thing you did is turning me as one."_

" _I've told you my reasons already, Katerina; can we just not get stuck on the same argument, over and over, for God sake!" He held his pace, pointing a finger at her direction._

" _Why? It's eating you inside to know that for once in your pathetic eternal life you weren't the moralistic and honorable man that you've shouted on the roof of being?" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _You don't know what you're saying." He frowned. "You're tired, in pain, and you're strength is leaving you. Please, drink the blood."_

" _Where's my sister? I want to see Carolina… before…" Katerina swallowed a lump in her throat, not able to formulate the rest of her sentence._

_Elijah closed his eyes, before raising his right hand to strike his eyelids. It would get way harder before it reach a point of not feeling so much pain for her. Maria had confirmed to him that she had informed the brunette of her sister's whereabouts at the present moment, but Katerina was also rambling under her present state of shock over her transition, so it wouldn't surprise more of him if she had completely forgot._

" _She's not here at the moment." Elijah replied, accompanied of a slow sigh. Not that he would ever think that this evasive respond could content his wife, but he owed it to himself to at least try._

" _Where is she then?" She replied, barely able to walk in his direction._

" _Carolina … Oh dear God, she's …" The Original tried to formulate, while passing a hand over his face before finally admitting her sister's whereabouts. "She's back in Russia."_

" _No, that's not true… What are you saying; you're a mad man, why would you be so cruel as making something up on my sister, Elijah?" Katerina busted to his face, suddenly losing her balance, only to retain herself at the foot of the bed._

" _Well, simply because I'm not making this up, Katerina." Elijah replied. "Your sister went back to your natal country to meet with Petrov; I figure she wanted to help the situation." He tried to explain to the best of his capacity. He raised his sight at her frail silhouette; her white complexion was changing into this greyish one. Soon, she would mummify if not nourished with blood._

" _For the last time, you need to drink the blood bag?" Elijah grabbed the bag left on the silver tray, before handing it to the young woman._

_Katerina grabbed the bag from his hand, before furiously throwing it on the opposite upholstered wall, with the red elixir spreading in all direction, on walls, carpet and furniture._

" _There… Are you happy now?" She lashed out, furiously; closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body._

_The Original felt anger, grander than life itself, held his entire being in hostage. His white knuckles, closed fists, and tensed boy, obvious signs of the battle he had just lost with himself to keep his calm with her unwillingness and foolishness to comply to his wish to save her from an upcoming death. Elijah raised his head, redness and dark lines appearing inside and around his eyes, true signs of him transforming into his vampire self. He narrowed his fiery sight toward the woman he had chosen as his wife; it was obvious to a blind that he had suddenly transformed into the hunter who'll hunt his prey until he'd get what he wanted._

_Katerina blenched at the physical and mental changes she felt in him, slowly raising her frail and paralyzed body in a standing position, while taking unbalanced steps toward the back, vain attempt to reach an obvious unreachable place of safety. Though, all things considered, she was dying, why fight for the inevitable? If he wanted to finish her off, maybe it would be better this way?_

" _Elijah, don't … Don't come nearer to me!" She stammered through her request, against her best judgement, while slowly raising her right opened palm to hold him immobile._

_He got rid of his blazer, folding it perfectly in two, before deposing the heavy fabric on a nearby chair, with a sadistic rictus raising the left corner of his lips. The kind and understandable husband was gone, only one of the eldest vampires was now standing in front of her. Slowly, with a calculated move of his hands, he rolled the sleeves of his man shirt, before opening the front row of buttons in slow, calculated movements._

" _What… What are you doing?' She couldn't do without stammering more, suddenly losing her balance, her shaking hands grabbing the back of an armchair to hold her equilibrium. She felt like her strength was leaving her body all at once, nausea taking the young woman by surprise. "You don't have any use for your "escort-wife"; so … So you want to finish her off, is that it?"_

_Elijah kept silent. It wouldn't be long now; she would probably die in the next hours if he was not acting promptly and without any concerns for her own wish. Nothing would hold him down to this point … Nothing! He knew instinctively this could be the only way to achieve his goal. Sensuality and sexuality had always been a huge factor in their relationship since the first time he had laid his eyes on the young Russian woman, and it will be his way out to force blood into her body and soul, once in for all! There was no other way, none! And the hell if she would hate him for eternity after this … He couldn't care less to this point, she hated him already, anyway._

_Katerina took a rapid glance toward the half-opened bathroom door, if only she could reach it, maybe he would grant her to die in peace and alone? Would it hurt? She did not think twice, she darted toward her only remaining chance and goal, faltering on her trembling and almost motionless legs, only to hear Elijah loud and deep growl reasoning into her ears, his two strong hands grabbing her waist to pull her body back on the bed, under her loud cries of surprise and panic._

_Elijah held her immobile with a firm grip of his left hand placed on her throat, her weak hands grabbing his wrists in a vain attempt to free herself, with her teary sight imploring him, in silence, to let them go. He opened the drawer of the nearest nightstand, pulling from its inside a letter opener, before cutting the left side of his neck, until the blood started to spread down his throat and bare muscular chest._

_With the little strength she had left in her, Katerina kicked her legs in all directions, squirming underneath her husband weight, while trying to free herself of his firm grip on both of her wrists. The anger took the best of her, and it's without even her acknowledgement that she felt her transformation into vampirism occur._

" _That's it, come for me, beautiful…" Elijah commented, rolling on himself to pull her body in top of his own, only to forcefully push her head toward his opened and bleeding cut._

_Katerina's eyes turned red, her teeth lengthened under the smell and sight of Elijah's blood. And it's under a loud growl that she greedily entered her fangs in his wounded flesh._

" _Yes, that's it beautiful … That's it …" Elijah rested his head on the pillow, a loud sigh of satisfaction and ecstasy escaping his parted lips, left under the only sensation of her teeth pushed in his flesh, with her lips grindingly aspirating his blood in large gulps in her throat, an intense pleasure spreading in his entire body, while he could feel an obvious arousal of his length in his crotch._

_He kept a firm hand pressed at the base of Katerina's neck to help her mouth in place on his opened wound and spreading blood; slowly sliding his right hand on the length of her upper body, in slow, sensual caresses that made her moan with pleasure._

" _You need to understand how pleasurable drinking blood can be, Katerina." Elijah whispered, cupping one of her breasts with his right hand, shortly after opening the cotton fabric of her nightgown, before gently sticking her hard-aroused nipples with the tip of his thumb. "How pleasurable it can be to share it between lovers…" He continued to murmur, raising the nightgown high on her thighs, only to insert his wandering fingers underneath her lace panties, on her hot and palpating core._

_She slowly raised her head from his opened wound, with haggard red eyes, as well as a state of sudden uncontrollable ecstasy, trickles of blood escaping her lips, slowly rolling on her chin._

" _God you're even more beautiful this way." Elijah commented, hoarsely; his fingers tracing the red lines around his wife eyes, the tips of her exposed fangs, before grabbing her chin to lower his head to taste his own blood on her lips. "Beautiful … and so tempting …" He mouthed the words, between kisses, slowly sliding the tip of his tongue on her neck, on the length of her blue vein. He knew he couldn't bite her at this point in time, but the temptation was still present in his mind._

_Katerina suddenly regained her strength and sense of reality, pushing herself at arm length from his sensual spell, before jumping off the bed, both hands raised in front of her trembling body as a protection mechanism._

" _Don't touch me like this, ever again! This is disgusting!" She busted to his face, while seeing him blenched under the insult, before rising on his own legs._

" _No Katerina, it's not … It's your true nature, and it won't be long now before you'll beg me for more." He responded, dryly; retracing his steps toward the bedroom door. He turned one last time to look at his wife, a mixed of sadness and anger perceived in his glance, before slamming the door behind his back._

* * *

" _Why do I feel like I won't like what I'm about to find behind this door?" Stefan raised an eyebrow, slowly glancing in direction of Klaus._

_They were both standing in front of a bedroom door, guards posted on each side of the arch; with a few additional ones that had been ordered to bring them to that particular location in the mansion._

" _It's not like you'll find Damon attached to the bedframe, naked, is it?" Klaus shrugged, impatient. Damon Salvatore was not one of his favorite vampires; if it was not for Stefan being related to him, Klaus would have killed him a long time ago._

" _If you want to leave and find Carolina now, you know that you can, don't you?" Stefan suggested._

" _I prefer to calm the rage I have inside me toward "my wife", beforehand." Klaus closed his eyes, both closed fists placed along his tensed body. "I wanted to decide "when and where" I would meet my … I mean, Petrov, and she forced it on me." He growled._

" _This courageous, human girl is doing a number on my hybrid friend, isn't she?" Stefan grinned, teasingly. "I've never thought I'll see that day."_

" _Could you just shut-up and open the damn door, Salvatore?" Klaus growled, unhappy. "That is, if you still want to breathe the next minute?"_

_Stefan slowly pushed the panel, with a subtle creak sound of the door, before remaining motionless and speechless at the view._

" _Well, well, well … What do we have here?" Klaus smirked, arms crossed over his muscular chest, upper right side of his body leaning on the arch door. "Please accept my deepest apologies, Stefan; it appears that your brother is in fact lying naked, and attached to the bedframe, dressed of a … Is this a very tight, leather brief? He mocked, openly; his right hand rose over his mouth to hold his laughter._

" _What the fuck?" Damon exclaimed, his head raised from his resting position on the pillow, sight fixated on both visitors standing over the threshold. "What are you doing here?"_

" _You must be kidding me?" Stefan sighed loudly; before raising his right hand to strike his eyelids._

" _Well, I never thought your brother was found of "bondage", but to each his own taste, I presume." Klaus pushed the humorous note, still grinning. "Personally, I prefer torture." He shrugged, amused. "The devil in me enjoys it way more to be the master instead of the submissive."_

" _Oh, please… Just stop talking." Stefan begged, mostly embarrassed._

" _Get him out of here for God sake, Stefan!" Damon titled his head toward Klaus, still restrained by the collar placed around his neck, while pulling with his arms and legs in every direction, in a vain attempt to free his four members of this awkward situation._

" _I believe the little "doggy" is talking to you?" Klaus pointed toward Damon, laughter escaping his lips._

" _Stefan, get Mikaelson out of this room or I swear I'll rip his heart out of his chest, if only to get rid of his pretentious smirk, as soon as … As soon as I'll free myself of this … This "thing"!" Damon mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _Klaus can you … Please?" Stefan sighed, loudly; both closed fists placed on each side of his waist. "I've been mortified and ashamed enough as it is."_

" _Sure thing, Mate… But, could you just take a picture before releasing your brother, for future reference of course?" Klaus couldn't help himself to tease more, before turning on his heels to face Petrov's guards._

" _Верни меня к_ _ней_ _" He asked the guards to bring him to Carolina, in a perfect Russian, before closing the panel behind his back._

_Stefan shook his head, his steps leading him at the foot of the bed to release his brother of his imprisonment, before taking a few extra to reach Damon's wrists._

" _Who is he talking about?" Damon inquired._

" _He's talking about his wife, Carolina." Stefan replied, evasively._

" _She's here, in the mansion?" Damon asked, surprised._

" _Yes." Stefan added. "You've stoop to a new low, Damon." He, then, mumbled, angrily, between his teeth, while freeing his older sibling of the last restrain._

" _I've stoop to a new low? What about your friend Mikaelson?" Damon exclaimed, in shock; jumping out of the bed, on both feet, while rubbing his sored wrists._

" _He's not the one tied to a bedframe in his … His … What are you wearing anyway?" Stefan looked at Damon's lack of clothes, disdainfully._

" _You think I've enjoyed being tied up to a bed, almost naked?" Damon pointed toward the fetish gear placed on the bed._

" _I so don't want to have this conversation with you." Stefan shook a forbidden finger underneath Damon's nose. "Your sexual preferences are not at the top of my list of concerns at the moment."_

" _This is not even close of being my sexual preferences!" Damon exclaimed, redness reaching his face. "It's Petrov's daughter, Anastassia; she did this to me!"_

" _And I'm sure you've fought hard to get rid of her, mm?" Stefan crossed his arms in front of his chest, eyebrows arched._

" _Well, no … Not in theory … Fuck, I'm only a vampire man and she's kind of a bombshell." Damon shrugged, apologetically; while tilting his head._

" _Why am I not surprised?" Stefan rolled his eyes._

" _I don't know why you're so pissed at me, brother; I've helped Maria escape from this hell." Damon played his set of cards, wrapping the sheet around his waist._

" _Do you want me to bring the fanfare and give you a medal, Damon?" Stefan busted to his brother's face. "You saved her after siding with Petrov, while being his informant, really? I should shake your hand, perhaps? Do you even know what that man is planning to do?"_

" _I kind of figured that much later." Damon winced. "And I swear to you I've tried to escape that man's claws. But it was a lost cause, obviously."_

" _Get dress, I can barely look at you at the moment." Stefan ordered; while retracing his steps toward the bedroom door, his right hand grabbing the handle._

" _With what, she took my clothes?!" Damon shrugged._

" _I don't know, I don't care ... Find a way!" Stefan shrugged it off._

" _Can we get out of here now?" Damon inquired._

" _Out of here? No, we are not getting out of here, Damon. And, do you know why?" Stefan replied, grabbing the handle to pull the door open. "Petrov is hosting a dinner party in honor of his son, Klaus, and we are all invited to attend. But, I don't see this invitation being a problem for you, is it? You and Petrov became friends with time, or am I mistaking?" He added, sarcastically; before slamming the panel on its arch behind his back._

" _Damn it!" Damon grabbed the sheet, before throwing it, angrily, on the bed._

* * *

_Rebekah turned on herself several times, scattering the room in search of her cellphone; the constant ringer tone reasoning between the four walls. She finally found the device on the bedroom floor, near the rug, at the foot of her bed._

" _Hello, I mean… Rebekah Mikaelson." She responded, hoping that it could actually be news from either Klaus or Stefan._

" _It's me." Stefan greeted, in a short sentence._

" _Fuck Salvatore; do you know how worried I've been?" Rebekah exclaimed; her left hand buried in her blonde lustrous hair._

" _Oh sorry "wife", next time I'll try to call you sooner in-between my convo with a psychopath." Stefan replied, impatient; while leading his steps toward the terrace of his attributed bedroom, his left hand grabbing the guardrail, his sight buried in the dark night._

" _Don't be snappy with me, Salvatore; I have no way of knowing what is going on in Russia with you, my brother and Petrov. Did you find him and is Carolina safe?" She inquired, while starting to bite her nails._

" _Yes, on both accounts." Stefan responded, before letting a loud sigh. "And… I'm sorry, Rebekah; my brother has this impeccable talent to bring the worst of mood in myself." he winced, while stroking his eyelids._

" _What? You found Damon also?" Rebekah replied, surprised. "He's in Petrov's mansion?"_

" _Not only I found him in Petrov's mansion, but he was very submissive and attached to a bed frame, dressed of leather underwear, both arms and legs spread opened." Stefan rolled his eyes to the stars._

" _Ewwww….. Too much information, the visual twisted my stomach in knots, I just want to vomit now." Rebekah winced, disdainfully._

" _Just imagine witnessing it on the spot." Stefan sighed._

" _I know your brother did his fair share of weird stuff, and I'll hate myself for asking, but what possessed him? Or, please don't tell me Petrov has this fetish side in him?" She questioned._

" _Thankfully, it wasn't Ludivig Petrov. Klaus's sister took my brother under her wings as his slave, as retaliation for helping Maria to escape." Stefan explained to a speechless Rebekah._

" _Wait, what? Back up, back up … Last I've hears, I'm Klaus's sister, aren't I?" Rebekah exclaimed, while shaking her head to get a grasp on reality._

" _Oh yah, about that; well … Let's just say Klaus just found another sister in the name of Anastassia Petrov." Stefan explained, evasively._

" _What do you mean another sister, Petrov had another child than Klaus?" Rebekah concluded._

" _Not to burst your bubble but the man must have children all around the world." Stefan rolled his eyes._

" _Wow! I … How did he took the news?" Rebekah asked, while slowly taking a sitting position at the foot of her bed. At the present moment Stefan's news was a bit too much for her to handle, though she would not admit it._

" _Who, Klaus… You know him, except for the nerves on his cheeks twitching; he gave nothing away, especially in front of his biological father." Stefan replied, toneless._

_Rebekah closed her eyes, an emptiness suddenly feeling her body and soul._

" _Rebekah?" Stefan called, alerted by her quietness._

" _Mm…" She mumbled the sound, sight lost in the emptiness of her room._

" _You're "his" baby sister, Bekah; now and forever, you must know that?" Stefan told, in a lower, deeper and softer voice. "You're unique, and … irreplaceable."_

" _You really think so?" She asked, tears filling her eyes._

" _You know that I do … Why do you think I still keep up with you after all these years?" He mocked, gently._

" _You're an ass, Salvatore!" She sniffed, loudly._

" _Yah, I like you too." He smirked._

" _Where are you now, what's happening in Russia?" She inquired, curiously._

" _Believe it or not, we apparently are staying in Petrov's mansion for a few nights." Stefan sighed, loudly. "His camouflage order was a personal and very formal invitation. We could have made a run for it, but we turned on our heels only to meet an army of hybrids, and they were not smiling at us, let me tell you." He teased._

" _What, but why? Klaus found Carolina; she is safe and sound, is she?" Rebekah inquired, suddenly back on her legs._

" _Yes, she is fine; strangely enough, Petrov did not harm Carolina." Stefan nodded. "You're about to all receive an invitation from the "Master" himself." He informed. "Believe it or not, Ludvig Petrov will host a dinner party, inviting all of us, to officially welcome Klaus in his family, and to discuss the future of our species."_

" _That man is a son of a bitch!" Rebekah exclaimed, in fury. "Is he serious?"_

" _Rebekah Mikaelson, your manners, young lady." Stefan disputed, retaining a smile for spreading on his lips._

" _Oh fuck you, Salvatore; you're not thinking less than I do." The blonde vampire rolled her eyes._

" _Probably not …" Stefan replied, under laughter._

" _Where are you now?" Rebekah asked more._

" _I'm standing in the opened terrace of one of his very luxurious bedroom suites?" Stefan replied._

" _Alone?" She wondered, against her better judgement._

" _Why, you think Petrov would send me a gift in a form of female companionship?" Stefan smirked._

" _He's been known to appreciate escorts after all." Rebekah shrugged. "He met Katerina that way, no?"_

" _Would that bother you?" Stefan asked. "It's been a long time since I've shared my bed with a woman."_

_Rebekah swallowed a lump in her throat, redness reaching both of her cheeks._

" _Why would it bother me?" She replied, while trying to hide the tremors in her voice, her shaking hand grabbing a glass of water that she had just poured to herself, before taking a few gulps to clear her throat and nervousness…Get a fucking grip, Rebekah!_

" _You're right; it shouldn't because it's you that I want to have sex with, not an escort." Stefan replied, unceremoniously. "Interested?"_

_A large spit of water escaped her lips, under the following loud sounds of coughing._

" _What did you just say?" Rebekah exclaimed, in shock._

" _You heard me, Bekah." Stefan replied, smirking. "I think we need some kind of stress relief, and you're celibate at the moment, so am I; we've been together in the past, and we've been fooling around the few past days, exchanging kisses, so why not?"_

" _Did you just ask me to have sex with you like I was an escort?" Rebekah exclaimed in shock. The Vodka in Russia must be very strong, that was the only logical explanation. "Go fuck yourself, Salvatore!" She added, before angrily hung up on him._

" _Well I take that as a "yes" then, Miss Mikaelson!" Stefan busted into laughter, before burying his cellphone in the back pocket of his jeans. "See you soon, baby!"_

* * *

" _La signora Maria… La signora Maria…" Isabella frantically called, through the corridor of the Italian villa._

" _For heaven sake, Isabella; what is going on?" Maria appeared in front of the Italian maid._

"" _Banditi" in front of the villa; they are parked in their big, large trucks." Isabella informed, gesturing with her hands and arms._

" _Bandits… Oh dear God, they must be Petrov's men?" Maria concluded, before leading her steps toward one of the bay window in the main living room, her sight now fixated on the range of camouflage vans parked in near proximity of the villa._

_She sighed loudly, eyes closed, with her junctures grabbing the window arch; before suddenly feeling two strong arms pulling her out of the opened view, only to be pushed in the opposite wall, with a muscular body pressing his weight on hers._

" _Don't ever put yourself at open-view like this, you hear me, Mrs. Maria?" George warned the patriarch woman, his sight lost in hers._

" _Yes, I hear you, George." Maria nodded to the bodyguard, obedient. "But, if I may comment, it's not like they could kill me with a shot of a gun, could they?" She raised an eyebrow, well aware of the heat that was suddenly spreading in her body at his too close proximity._

" _It could still hurt, would you say?" George commented, winking; suddenly releasing his strong grip on her shoulders. "I'm sorry if I had to be rude, it's for your own good. Please, stay back from the windows, especially you." He nodded toward the maid._

" _Sì signore." Isabella shook her head, in agreement. "You think they are vampires too?"_

" _Hybrids to be more exact, well... A sort of mutation species." George explained to the Italian maid. "How ... I'm sorry, it's obviously not of my business." He added, redness reaching her cheeks. "But, you're human; arent' you?"_

" _I man; Signore Mikaelson saved my son of an upcoming death one day, since then, and until my own death, I'll always be grateful for his help." Isabella explained to the bodyguard._

_George nodded to her say, in respect._

" _How many of them?" Elijah inquired to his right arm man, entering the living room, while tucking his man shirt in his trousers._

" _Five or six trucks filled with Petrov's men." George informed his boss._

" _That was to be expected. Klaus's biological father learned our wereabout with the arrival of Carolina in Russia." Elijah sighed, loudly; while taking a quite look at the window._

" _Mister Mikaelson!" Maria exclaimed, outraged._

" _Mother, if you want to express yourself to me, I think you can let down the formalities between us as of now, would you say?" Elijah suggested, a rictus raising the left side of his lips._

" _You're right, I'm sorry… I'm you mother, and I should act like it." She sighed, loudly; while crossing her hands in front of her chest. "Then, Elijah … What are you thinking showing yourself half-dressed in the living room?"_

" _Well, mother you'll have to forgive this misstep from my part, if only for the fact that Petrov's hybrid men are lurking at the villa now, can I be forgiven?" Elijah replied, teaser._

" _Well, you can be forgiven for your lack of decency, only …" Maria approached his son, before whispering the rest of her sentence in his right ear. "If your lack of clothes is leading me to believe that you have reconciled with your wife."_

" _It's hardly the case." Elijah winced. "Katerina, she's … She's being an incorrigible "taming of the shrew"!" He growled more. "She refuses to listen to reason, and she's stubborn as hell."_

" _Did she drink?" Maria wondered, hopeful._

" _I forced her." Elijah shrugged, a loud sigh escaping his lips. "Not one of my finest moments."_

" _You're both back on track, I'm so happy." Maria smiled, while raising her right hand to caress her son's right cheek._

" _Mother, I have no idea from where you're picking those crazy ideas of yours?" Elijah shook his head._

" _A mother knows best, my dear Elijah." She winked at him._

" _Awesome family, what's happening?" Kol grinned, stepping forward the threshold of the living room, while scattering the group. "What? Why are you all wearing those long faces?"_

" _Stefan called!" Rebekah rushed behind her brother's heels._

" _Are there any news why we are besieged by an army of hybrids, who are lurking at us?" Elijah asked his sister; while keeping an eye on the vans._

" _Yes, I … I don't think they'll attack us in any way or form." Rebekah shook her head._

" _Oh dear God, how's Carolina?" Maria asked, her right hand rose over her chest._

" _She is safe and sound." Rebekah confirmed to her mother. "Stefan informed me that Petrov is holding a dinner party and we should soon receive a dinner invitation to attend." She added. "They are probably here to escort us to Russia."_

" _In other words, we are obligated to attend this event or there will be retaliation?" Elijah frowned, unhappy._

" _You mean this invitation?" Kol grinned, while raising his right hand that was holding a beige envelope._

" _Where did you get this envelope, young man?" Maria snatched it from her youngest._

" _I went outside and I've exchanged a few greeting words with Petrov's men." Kol shrugged, amused._

" _Did you even think with your head, Kol?" Elijah snatched the envelope back from his mother's hand._

" _What, what Elijah? What can they do to me? If they wanted to attack, they would have done it ages ago." Kol responded, while gesturing with his hands._

" _And one single bite could have put you in danger, young fool!" Elijah busted to his brother. "They are an army of hybrids being built by Petrov's hands, the only person who could have healed you is Klaus, and he is at thousands of miles from here!"_

" _I did not think of that…" Kol lowered his head, shamelessly, while biting into his bottom lip._

' _What are we going to do, Elijah?" Maria asked, while rubbing both hands together._

" _Invitation is in fact formal." Elijah shrugged. "What did Stefan say?" He turned his head toward his sister._

" _Basically he simply said that we have no other choice but to present ourselves at Petrov's party." She shrugged, helpless. "I_

" _I see …" Elijah sighed, loudly; before raising his right hand to strike his eyelids. "Prepare your suitcases; I guess we're leaving for Russia in a few hours." He added, before handing the card to George. "Tell them that we'll be ready to leave with their accommodation in a few hours."_

" _I will do that, boss." George nodded, leading his steps outside, but not before addressing a timid smile to Maria, who nodded in return._

" _Wait a minute?" Kol scattered the room, in alert. "Where is Bonnie this time?"_

_They all lowered their heads, hiding their sights from Kol's glance, while holding their laughter at bay._

" _You got to be kidding me? She left, again?" He growled; closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _Kol, it's not like we can't retained her against her will, she's not related to any of us." Elijah replied, a rictus raising the right side of his lips._

" _Damn, that witch!" Kol retraced his steps toward the exit of the room._

" _I would try handcuffs if I was you?" Rebekah teased him._

" _Rebekah; that's suggestion is certainly not lady-like!" Maria exclaimed, outraged._

" _What?" The blonde shrugged, dumbfounded. "That could help, no?"_

" _I'll take the idea into good consideration." Kol pointed a finger toward his sister._

" _What about the invitation, Miss Bennett's name and your own are listed on it?" Elijah reminded him._

" _We'll catch up with you!" Kol replied, before storming out._

* * *

_Bonnie flipped through the pages of the magazine she was holding in her hands. Granted she knew little about Italian, but at least she was able to enjoy the images to divert her attention on something else than the urgent matter at hands. The train schedule had been of much help, she would find herself in Rome in no time now, she thought to herself, while leaning her back comfortably in her seat._

_She suddenly felt a round and cold object on her right fist, and she raised her sight upward mostly alerted by the subtle "click" sound._

" _What … What is this?" She raised her right arm in the air, while glancing at the handcuff with a petrified expression plastered on her face._

" _Well, good morning to you too, cupcake." Kol greeted, smirking; lowering his head near Bonnie's, to bless her right cheek of a kiss, before taking his own sitting position, in the train, beside her. "Here, I brought you breakfast." He dropped a paper bag to her lap._

" _Eww… Don't do that in public." She rubbed her cheek to erase the memory of his lips on her skin._

" _You weren't so holy nun when you ask me to join you in bed the other night?" He commented, while biting into his brioche._

" _What is this "thing" locked on my wrist, Kol?" Bonnie mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _Handcuff…" The thousand years old vampire responded, shrugging; before taking another bite of his food._

_Bonnie grabbed Kol's brioche and paper back, before opening her side window, only to throw the food outside._

" _There!" She grinned, happy of the bright move she had just pulled, before throwing the paper back placed on her lap, as well._

" _Hey! You've just thrown Italian brioches for the pigeons to eat it!" Kol exclaimed, stretched neck to take a look at the brioches and the birds urgently flying on top to grab pieces._

" _Detach my hand from yours now, or I'll swear it's another part of your anatomy that I'll throw to the birds!" The brunette threated, her sight narrowed on Kol._

" _Promise, promise…" Kol kept his sight locked in hers, a smirk raising both sides of his lips; before grabbing Bonnie's left hand to slowly deposit it near his crotch, on his lap. "You want to do it now, or you prefer to wait for a more suitable time, away from curious eyes?"_

' _Oh you're disgusting!" She pulled her hand away, while noticing the cute older Italian couple that was staring at them, with huge grins on their faces. "People are looking, Kol; give me the handcuffs key?"_

" _Nope, I won't give you the key!" Kol shook his head, cool-headed._

" _Why, for God sake?" She asked, steam coming out of her ears._

" _Because, I've told you to stay safe in the villa, but it's been several times that you've ran through my fingers and are not listening to me." He replied, more calmly than what he felt._

" _Fine, I'll find the damn key myself then!" Bonnie replied, while rummaging through the pockets of his jacket._

" _In the meantime, maybe you could tell me why you're heading to Rome?" Kol questioned, while hearing the last call for passengers to embark the train ride._

_Bonnie rolled her eyes, sighing; while still rummaging through all Kol's pockets._

" _Aurora contacted me, apparently a group of witches, protesters, for what I could grab of the conversation, is about to meet in Rome." Bonnie informed him._

" _And you want to learn more about what is going on and see if Aurora's words are indeed the truth." Kol nodded, in agreement._

" _Yes, not only I need to found out what had happened to my grandmother, but I need to know what's going on now." Bonnie added, her left hand suddenly sliding into the front pocket of his jeans._

" _Oh, careful darling, you're near a forbidden land." He teased, winking._

" _Oh, go to hell! Where did you put that damn key?" She exclaimed, impatient; while feeling the train starting to move toward its destination. "Is there something new on your end?"_

" _Except for the fact that we have all been invited to Petrov's diner party in Russia, nah, nothing new." He shrugged, mocker._

" _What? Are you kidding? Did Stefan and Klaus found Carolina, is she safe?" She inquired, mouth opened._

" _Yes, she's safe." He nodded._

" _I'll stay handcuffed to your wrist, won't I?" Bonnie sighed loudly, before letting herself fall back on her seat._

" _It's your fault." Kol replied, grinning._

" _How is this even my damn fault?" Bonnie stared into his eyes._

" _You're thrown the key yourself, darling; it was in my breakfast bag." He informed, with laughter escaping his lips. "Isn't life grand?" He added. "Now, we are handcuffed for the better or worse!"_

* * *

_Caroline stood on the balcony, holding the guardrail with both hands, her knuckles blenching under her strong grip. She had felt some kind of effervescence in the aura of the mansion; the servants and guards who had visited her private quarters seemed agitated and were obviously avoiding her inquiring sight._

_Did something happen? Did Klaus come to save her? Was that the main reason of all this palpable excitement? She shook her head, eyes closed … No! She needed to stop this nonsense now… She had no reason to believe that Klaus would come to rescue her from his father lethal claws. She had foolishly made such a bad decision to leave Italy to take a plane to Russia, only to be retained prisoner by Petrov… Stupid! Granted her reasons were coming from the heart. She had seen indescribable pain in her husband's eyes when she had busted her resentment to his face…. Unbearable pain! She had obviously cut him deep inside of his soul. In retrospective, she knew that her sister's accident had brought its load of sufferance in her heart, and she had taken her anger on him. So in an attempt of making amends she had wanted to put a stop to Petrov's sick plan to run all of their life and destiny._

_And now she was kept prisoner in this mansion, same mansion that her sister Katerina had been invited as an escort a few months ago. Granted she was treated with respect and consideration, with its load of servants present to fulfill all of her needs, but prisoner was still how she felt in these closed walls._

_Katerina… What had happened to her sister? Was she a vampire now? No doubt in Carolina's mind that her sister had fought the idea with all she got in her, but at the same time, the young Russian knew in her heart how much Katerina's husband loved her sibling. Katerina was actually in the position that Carolina had dreamed to be … Turned by her husband as his equal._

_She closed her eyes taking deep breaths inside her lungs, her mind trying to find peace in the simple exercise of filling her chest with air … Up – down … Up- down …_

_She suddenly opened her eyes, all her senses in alert; the beats of her heart rising in high speed, with the fast rhythmic pace reasoning in the deepness of her ears. She could feel "him" near her, through her heart, mind and soul …_

_She turned on herself, suddenly facing her husband intense blue gaze, her right hand raised over her chest in a vain attempt to calm her raising heartbeats down._

" _You… You've been standing there for long?" She inquired with tremors in the voice. "Did you just arrive in Russia?"_

_Klaus kept his silence, with his fiery sight slowly sliding on the length of her shivering body, creating an additional range of intense shivers in her spin, in a mix of anticipation and fear of his reaction._

" _Say something please?" Carolina begged, a lump being swallowed in her throat._

" _Are you scared of me, Love?" Klaus asked, a sadistic smile raising the right side of his manly lips… Same lips she had been dreaming about since her arrival to Russia._

" _No, why … Why are you asking me that question?" She stammered through her sentence, stepping back from his imposing presence in the room, with her body touching the wall a few seconds later._

" _I don't know… Your nervousness in my presence, or…" He started listing, pausing; while throwing his leather backpack on an armchair, before noisily cracking his knuckles one by one, in the most threatening way. "There is also your uncontrollable stammering, or the fact that you are glued to the wall, perhaps?" He added, while getting rid of his leather vest in slow, calculated movements._

" _I'm …." Carlina startled, before closing her eyes to fill-up her lungs with air. "I'm not afraid of you, that… That's simply ridiculous. You're … You're my husband." Damn stammering! Damn her unwillingness to move her back from the wall!_

" _The same husband you ran away from, or am I mistaking?" He inquired, perniciously; advancing toward her standing position, one slow step at a time._

" _I did not … I did not run from you." She shook he head, nervously. "I ran from … I ran from myself."_

" _You ran from yourself? How interesting, sweetheart." Klaus smirked, suddenly reaching his wife standing position, with his tensed and muscular body leaning on hers. "Your lips are trembling, still nervous about yourself, Carolina?" He inquired, his right thumb sliding on the length of her bottom lips in a sensual way._

_Jerk! He was obviously doing this in purpose!_

" _I'm not nervous, nor afraid …" She managed to murmur, eyes closed, with the rapid beats of her heart playing drum inside of her chest, intense fire spreading from her core to her entire body. "I'm not running am I?"_

" _Did you have to run from Petrov's men, Love? Mm… Tell me?" Klaus asked, a finger tracing the length of the blue vein on the left side of her neck._

" _I … I don't know what you mean?" Carolina swallowed, an electric discharge spreading from her head to toes, at the simple touch of his finger._

" _Well, a beautiful human girl like you, with all her "assets" displayed in front their eyes; I bet that some of them were tempted by the visual." Klaus explained, his finger slowly tracing down the cleavage of her white summer sweater, before cupping two full hands of her breasts, his thumbs playing with her hard and erected nipples, through the fabric._

" _Oh…" Carolina titled her head back to the wall, moan of pleasure escaping her lips. She had long for Klaus's arrival, for his presence, for his touch …_

" _Were they able to smell you like I smell you now?" He asked, his teeth nibbling on her right ear, before his lips could slide on her neck._

" _I… I don't know what you mean?" Carolina replied, breathless; her hands detaching from the wall, only to rise on her husband muscular chest._

" _I'm talking about this sweet, spicy odor of wetness between your legs." Klaus explained, pushing his right knee to oblige the young woman to open her legs, lowering his right hand to slide a few fingers on her core, between her legs, where the damp fabric of her jeans was an obvious sign of her sexual arousal._

" _How can you smell that?" She raised her blushed cheeks, ashamed of the realization._

" _There are a lot of things you don't even know about the animal who lives in me, and inside all vampires, sweetheart." He commented. "You want me to slide my fingers underneath your panties?" He raised both eyebrows, threatening to execute his say. "You want me to fill you up and prove to you how much you're dripping for me?" He questioned. "You think you would have been that wet for one of Petrov's man?"_

_Oh that was it, wasn't it?! Asshole!_

" _Fuck you! Get off of me!" Carolina yelled, while pushing on her husband's chest with both hands, to free herself from his solid grip, before stumbling a few feet away from his threatening glance. "How dare you say something like this to me?" She pointed a forbidden finger in his direction. "You perfectly know that you are the man who took my virginity and that you are the only man that I've ever been with, you're sick, Klaus!"_

" _How can I dare? How dare you, Carolina, putting your life at risk like you've just do." Klaus yelled back at her. "What were you thinking, Love?" He grabbed his head with both hands. "Do you know how easily you could have been abuse by this army of hybrids? Do you? Tortured, raped, your carcass fed to the animals?" He listed, while pacing back and forth in front of the bed. "You've no way of knowing what Petrov had in his head, what he would do with you, or to you? You were just lucky that he wanted to keep you as a bargaining cheap to make a deal with me."_

_Carolina closed her eyes, her right hand raised to her chest, in a vain attempt to calm her heart for pumping so rapidly and noisily inside her chest._

" _I'm sorry, I'm so sorry …" She tried to explain to the best of her capacity. "I did not think, I just … I acted, and I did not envision that it would put you in such a strange predicament with your biological father."_

" _Don't call him that, Petrov Ludvig is nothing to me!" The hybrid mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _I'm sorry; I won't call him your father anymore, I promise." She shook her head, nervously rubbing her hand together. "I know you're mad…"_

" _Mad do not even start to cover it!" Klaus lashed out, while cutting her sentence. "What could have possessed you to take a plane back to Russia to meet with him, of all people?"_

" _I … I wanted to make things better for all of us, I wanted to put an end to all this hurt I've been feeling inside of my soul." Carolina responded, tears filling her eyes._

" _For all the pain I've inflected on you, you mean?" Klaus replied, tit for tat; eyes and fists closed._

" _No, no … Oh God, no …" She walked toward him, both hands grabbing his right forearm._

" _Carolina… Don't…" He pulled his arm away, his skin burning of the simple touch of her hands. If he was not careful, he would savagely and angrily make her his on the bedroom hardware floor!_

" _I did not mean one word of what I've said to you in Italy… I was so angry about my sister's accident and … I wanted to burst my anger at someone, and you were there… I'm so sorry, Klaus, please forgive me?" She felt a tear rolling on her left cheek._

" _There's nothing to forgive, but, there is plenty that I should suffer for all the pain I've managed to bring into your life since our marriage." Klaus responded, before turning on himself to face the window._

_He stood silently in front of the garden view, his sight fixated on the trees and bushes of the majestic mansion. He suddenly startled at the sound of Carolina's voice, which stood near his back._

" _I want my husband to finish what he's started, please?" She asked. "I'm burning inside; I need to feel your fingers on me, and inside me." She added, hoarsely._

" _Don't…" He shook his head, while turning on himself to face her. She had opened the button of her jeans, lowered the zipper and the fabric on her hips, with her right hand tucked underneath the lace fabric of her panties, her fingers slowly stroking her center in soft touches. She had also undressed of her sweater, with a transparent, that left nothing to the imagination, bra, to dress her perky breasts. "You were right, I'm dripping wet for you." She whispered, eyes closed, before pulling her hand away, only to bring his right one underneath the lace._

_Klaus let out a loud growl, his left hand grabbing her waist only to pull Carolina near his chest, his fingers sliding on her engorged folds, before sinking deep inside her walls, in fast and hard thrusts that left her panting. Her hands grabbed his shoulders, as the only way she could find to not fall at his feet, unconscious. She was so wet that he knew that it wouldn't take long before he could feel her walls contracting around his fingers, with his name escaping her lips, left under the aftershocks of her orgasm._

_She had been right, he owed it to her to make her come … And that was about the only thing that he knew being able to do in a rightful way for Carolina, because making her happy was not one of those things, obviously. Granted, this sexual interlude had left him greedy for more, and extremely hard in his jeans, but this was not about him or his need anymore, it was about setting Carolina free of him when this all over deal with Petrov would be over._

_He gently pushed Carolina at arm length, under her speechless expression and motionless demeanor, retracing his steps toward his backpack, before grabbing it only to walk toward the bathroom door._

" _I need a shower. We are obligated to stay in the mansion for a few days; I'll explain the details to you, later. I suggest we find a way to cohabitate without "this" happening again." Klaus explained, toneless; before slamming the door behind his back, leaving his wife broken heartache behind him._

* * *

_Back to square one in the devil's den, thought Maria while eying the Russian servitor who dropped her suitcase in top of the red silk bedspread, politely making a reverence, only to retrace his steps toward the bedroom door, before closing the panel behind his back to leave the guest to her intimacy._

_She closed her eyes a soft sigh escaping her red lips. This party was not a good omen; she could feel it in the deepness of her soul. She reopened them, before taking a few steps to reach her suitcase, her sight suddenly attracted by a large box placed on the middle of the gigantic bed, a large black bow as decoration, placed on its cover. She grabbed the little envelope on top of the box cover, before pulling the card from its inside._

**To my Ingrid**  
I know the dress is a pale comparison to your beauty,  
But I still hope you'll be please by the choice I made.  
I'm longing to see you again;  
Ludvig Petrov

_Maria rolled her eyes to the ceiling, her right hand furiously rumpling the cards, before throwing it in a near waste basket. Unfortunately, though her demonstration of fury had calmed her nerves, she couldn't do without taking a quick peek inside the box._

_It was a velvety burgundy dress, with its back completely exposed, arms covered of the finest lace, with a strand of pearls hanging in the back. It was simply exquisite!_

" _Are you safe and comfortable?" A male voice softly whispered the words near Maria's left ear, making her startled with fear at the sound. She promptly reacted, turning on her heels, before pushing the intruder in her vampire speed on the wall placed behind his back, with her forearm firmly pushed on his throat._

" _I believe it's the first time we've been so close, Maria." George commented, a smile raising both corners of his lips._

" _Oh dear God, George, it's you?!" Maria exclaimed more as a certainty than a question. "I … I swear, I … I wasn't aware of your presence." She stammered, nervously; before releasing her grip on the man's throat, retracing her steps at her initial position near the bed, with her right hand raised over her mouth. "I'm so ashamed of my behavior, please forgive me?"_

" _No harm has been done, Mrs. Maria. It's actually me who should ask for your forgiveness. It's entirely my fault; I should have announced myself to you, especially in enemy's territory." George straightened his three piece black man suit. "Plus, you don't ever need to feel ashamed for getting close to me, I can assure you."_

_A fire reached Maria's cheeks in an intensity she couldn't remember feeling since a long time, because of a man. She coughed discreetly, lowering her head to hide her flushing and regain her normal capacity._

" _I'm comfortable, yes; thank you, George, as for safe… That's highly debatable, considering where we are standing; would you say?" Maria responded, while pacing back and forth in front of the bed._

_George narrowed his sight on Maria; before bending his upper body to grab the crumpled card in the waste basket near the mahogany desk._

" _He's bribing your attention with gift already?" George winced at the message written on the card, before reaching the box on the bed, only to grab the velvety long dress with his right hand. "That's what you like from a man, Maria?" George inquired, disdainfully; before replacing the dress in its gift box._

" _I'm able to recognize exquisite quality in a fabric and good taste, George, but that doesn't mean that I'm not aware of the difference between receiving a good apple and a poisoned one. I reassure you, I can easily not mix the two." She replied, dryly; her lips biting into a thin line._

" _Maria, I … I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or to imply that you were falling for "his" gift… I mean… I'll just close my mouth now." George lowered his head, shamefully._

" _What are you doing here, if I may ask?" Maria inquired._

" _Your son asked me to keep a good eye on you." George informed in return._

" _With all my children under the same roof, in the exception of Kol; I doubt that my "ex-lover" could even make a move against me. And what would be the point at this point in time?" Maria continued her nervous pacing, a loud sigh escaping her lips._

" _Well, maybe your "ex-lover", as you call him so well, could escape the precious walls of his castle and bring you with him?" George frowned at her mention._

" _I've said that out loud, did I?" Maria exclaimed, in shock of her own spoken words. "Not one of my finest moments, I would say." She blushed once more. "This said; I can assure you that you don't need to babysit me, George." She let a timid smile spread on her lips._

" _I'll do as you wish, Mrs. Maria." George nodded, toneless; his left cheek twitching._

" _You're mad at me, aren't you?" Maria noticed._

_George raised his head, his fiery sight locked in Maria's eyes in an intense glance; before unexpectedly grabbing her left forearm to pull her near his muscular chest, with his lips crashing on hers under her muffled cry of surprise. The kiss ended as quickly as it started, under her speechless and shocked expression._

" _Maybe you should concentrate on your future "lover" instead of reminiscing of your past one?" George mouthed the words in top of her trembling lips. "If you want more of this, you know where to find me, Maria." He added, gently pushing himself at arm length, only to retrace his steps toward the entrance door, before leaving in his vampire speed under a gale._

_Maria stood petrified in the middle of the bedroom, before raising her right hand to touch her swollen lips._

" _Bravo! Sincerely I'm on the verge of shedding a tear." An annoying, recognizable male voice reasoned in the bedroom. "If only I had a handkerchief. It's the most beautiful think I've ever seen, you and your, wait, what should I call him, bodyguard, gigolo? And they say age doesn't matter…They must be right? Though I've never vision you as a cougar my dear Esther?"_

_Maria sighed loudly, eyes closed, steam coming out of her ears, with both closed firsts placed on each side of her tensed body. She turned on her heels to face the second intruder, her eyes throwing darts at the "asshole" standing in front her sight._

" _What are you doing here, Mikael?" She asked, cringing, to help retain her fury inside._

" _Well, I'm watching the exchanged kiss between my ex-wife and her present lover for starter." Mikael grinned, before advancing from his standing position on the opened terrace toward her own near the bed._

" _I meant, what are you doing here in Petrov's mansion?" Maria questioned, once again; with her raised chin. "Are you on a suicidal mission or something?"_

" _Why? Would you shed a tear if your past lover would try to hurt me?" Mikael teased, a raised hand placed on his chest, in front of his heart. "I'm touched, Esther."_

" _My name is Maria, and you perfectly know it." She mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _Oh for God sake, can you drop the theatrical with this awful new name of yours?" Mikael rolled his eyes. "I did not come on my free will to this mansion, if it's what you're wondering, I was dragged here by the hair, something about a party that I needed to attend." He added, sighing. "But thinking about it, with you, our host, your gigolo and myself, we could easily replay the sound of music, orgy style; what do you think, "fraulein" Maria?" He grinned, pushing her button even further._

" _You're disgusting!" Maria lashed out to her ex-husband face._

" _Oh come on, where your sense of humor, for God sake?" Mikael smirked, leaning his upper body on the bed mantle, arms crossed over his chest._

" _I lost it the day you've pushed Katerina in the stairs, causing her impending paralysis." Maria added, before raising her right hand to slap it across her ex-husband face. "Count yourself lucky to be eternal, Mikael; or I swear I would have killed you with my bare hands!"_

_Mikael stood motionless and speechless over her say, before raising his right hand to rub his bruised cheek._

" _What … What makes you think it's me who caused the accident, she could have easily tripped or something?" He stammered through his weak._

" _Simple, it's because you've disappeared like the coward that you are." Maria busted to his face, before turning the handle to open the door._

_Mikael winced, but kept quiet; retracing his steps toward the door._

" _Get out of my bedroom, now!" She added, before slamming the panel behind his back._

* * *

_Ludvig Petrov kept his sight narrowed on the luminous sunset spreading his reddish colors at the horizon, while holding a glass of scotch in his right hand._

_The parlor room door opened on Alexay, triggering an air flow on Petrov's shoulders and neck, before being slammed noisily on its arch._

" _Are they in their respective bedroom suite?" Ludvig inquired, slowly sipping the alcohol in his hand._

" _They are all accommodating themselves as we speak." Alexay nodded his head, as confirmation. "As for both Salvatore brothers they have been assigned to connecting bedroom suites."_

" _What about Ingrid's evening dress?" Ludving raised an inquiring eyebrow._

" _The box has been placed on the bedspread." Alexay informed._

" _I can't wait to see my Ingrid in that dress." Petrov let a seductive smile spread on his lips._

" _Will she wear it?" Alexay wondered, out loud._

" _Oh, she'll wear it alright." Ludvig replied, confident. "What about my son and his wife?"_

" _Your son did not leave his wife's side or bedroom suite since his arrival this morning in her quarters." Alexay confirmed to his master._

" _Did you manage to sneak the required dose of elixir in her daily drinks?" Petrov inquired, frowning. "No side effects?"_

" _Yes, it's been taking care of." Alexay nodded, once more. "No, there was nothing noticeable to the servants and guards._

" _Then, its' the perfect time to rekindle the romance I suppose?" Ludvig smirked, content. "Though, my son seemed everything but content with her latest course of actions, in reverse Carolina prompt thinking saved me a lot of time toward my goal."_

" _I'm not one to doubt your action taken, Petrov, but…" Alexay held his say, a loud sigh escaping his lips._

" _Your moralistic conscience is speaking to you now, my friend?" Petov raised an eyebrow, in surprise._

" _No, of course not … But, if something happens to his wife, the relationship you grave of having with your son will surely die before having a chance to be born, would you say?" Alexay gave his honest opinion._

" _I thought you were not too fond of my son?" Ludvig mocked, gently._

" _Not being too fond of him would mean not being too fond of you, Petrov; or am I mistaking?" Alexay let a rictus appear on the right corner of his lips._

" _I say: Touché, my dear friend." Ludvig smirked, pointing a finger toward Alexay's chest, before retracing his steps toward his favorite leather armchair. "I think that both my son and his wife could grandly benefit of my present course of actions."_

" _But it's still against both of their approvals, do you agree?" Alexay raised a suspicious eyebrow._

" _It this works, Alexay, I would have found a way to create a larger army of hybrids, with the only help of humans, women to be more exact, and this through a regular pregnancy of my step-daughter, wouldn't you say it's brilliant of my part?" Petrov commented, proudly. "As for my son and his wife, they'll be grateful one day… Very, very, very grateful, of that fact I am certain. Did I or did I not offered them the unthinkable, on a silver platter?" He added, a huge grin blessing both corners of his lips._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for granting me a few weeks of "time-off" this summer. I was truly swamp with my private life. Happy to be back in this story, though :))


	25. The king's big bash - Part 1

_**Rome, undergrounds of the Vatican…** _

" _Damn it!" Bonnie cursed, loudly; while twisting her ankle for the tenth of times, on the rocky undergrounds corridors._

" _Are you ok?" Kol wondered, while encircling the witch's waist to help keep her equilibrium._

" _I'm fine!" She brushed his hands away. "Actually, no, I'm not fine! If we weren't handcuffed to each other like Siamese, I would be able to walk decently on this rocky path!"_

" _Oh come on, it's you who threw the key away, if I may remind you, Bonnie; and if you weren't handcuffed to my wrist just now, I wouldn't be able to prevent you for falling on your ass at every chance that you get… I mean your "lovely" ass, of course." Kol smirked, winking._

" _If I was not handcuffed to you, you wouldn't even be standing by my side at the moment; I would have done whatever necessary for you to lose my track…" She pointed it out, while listing her cons_

" _Not a fat chance in hell, darling; I would always find a way to track you down!" He rolled his eyes at her say._

"… _I wouldn't have to endure your annoying voice in my ears, or feel your filthy hands on my ass at every chance that you get!" Bonnie continued her lamentations._

" _Like you don't like my hands on your lovely ass perhaps, mm? It's the "fucking" highlight of your day!" Kol commented, before spanking her hard on her buttocks._

" _Oh my God, did you just spank me just now, asshole?" Bonnie exclaimed, mouth opened; while rubbing her bottom and stomping her feet on the rocks, before, once more, losing her balance and finding herself in Kol's arms a second later. "I'm sorry… I've just lost my balance."_

" _You were saying?" He grinned, impertinently; slowly sliding his hands from her waist, down on the small of her back, before reaching the tender curves of her bottom cheeks._

" _Kol, you can let me go now!" Bonnie ordered, while remaining completely motionless; a warm feeling hitting her body all at once._

" _Hey? It's you who's climbing on my body, not the other way around." He pushed the note even further, a smile plastered on his lips, from ear to ear._

" _I did not do such a thing as climbing on your body!" She replied, redness reaching both of her cheeks, before pushing herself at arm length… Well, as much as she could with the handcuffs of course. "I simply lost my balance."_

" _Mm… I guess you've lost your balance too, I mean … the other night when you've climbed into my bed?" Kol arched an eyebrow, teaser._

" _Oh my God, are you going to talk about this for eternity, Kol?" Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Get a grip and a life while you're at it!" She added, while passing by him, before being pulled back in his arms._

" _What if I can forget about it, what if I can forget about this?" Kol questioned, both hands grabbing Bonnie's shoulders to pull her closer to his chest, before crashing his mouth on hers._

_She let a muffled cry escaped her lips, her hands pushing on his muscular chest to free herself of this forced embrace; before finally realizing that she was battling a lost cause. She moaned softly; her lips slowly parting to let his tongue invade the intimacy of her mouth, under his loud growls of satisfaction. A discreet cough finally pushed them apart._

" _I'm sorry, but we don't have much time." Aurora whispered, holding a torch in her right hand, while standing a few feet of distance from their standing positions._

" _Aurora? You came." Bonnie exclaimed, a smile spreading on her lips._

" _Of course I came; I wouldn't make you come to Rome if there was not such urgency." Aurora explained, while eyeing Kol; a smile spreading on her lips. "We need to hurry, they are waiting for us. I see you came here "attached" and that you brought Kol with you?"_

" _I did not bring him, he tagged himself along and he lost the damn key of this…thing!" Bonnie raised her hand in the air to show the handcuff circling her wrist, while pulling the vampire on her heels to follow Aurora through the underground corridors._

" _Oh no, no, no … Don't put this on my shoulders, darling; it was all your own doing, It's "you" who lost the damn key!" Kol replied._

" _It's not … I mean; it's obviously not of my business; I know that couple like "kinky" sometimes." Aurora commented, redness spreading on her cheeks._

" _Do you hear this, Bonnie; apparently you like kinky?" Kol mocked; to push her buttons, even more._

" _This is not what it looks like!" Bonnie tried, desperately, to explain to the young witch._

" _You could have easily free yourself with you power, right?" Aurora whispered near Bonnie; under the opened wide ears of Kol; before zapping the handcuffs open, with her witch powers, a smile spreading on the vampire's lips a second later._

" _I … I did … I did not think of that." Bonnie replied, shamefully._

" _Maybe you like being handcuffed to him?" Aurora shrugged, playfully. "This said…"She added, in a louder tone of voice. "If he's coming with us, you need to be ready, not all resistance-witches will be happy with the presence of a vampire here; it's dangerous for us, you know?" She commented, with both Bonnie and Kol silently agreeing to her say, with simultaneous nods._

_**ooOoo** _

_They took the direction of several corridors, the path of their feet illuminated by Aurora's torch, before finally reaching a steel door with incurved in its metal, five hands interlaced together._

" _It's the resistance symbol." Aurora informed Kol, who was narrowing his eyes on the door._

" _You mean the resistance against the Catholic Church has always held a hearing underneath the Vatican, how so twisted of them?" Kol winked at Aurora, good player._

" _Let's just say that they would have never thought the first five witches enrolled underneath their power, were in fact resisting them underneath their own noses." Aurora replied. "Are you ready Bonnie?" She asked, while grabbing the handle._

" _I'm ready, as much as I'll ever be ready, Aurora." Bonnie replied, discreetly nodding._

_Aurora nodded back, before pushing the heavy door on its arch; Bonnie and Kol following on her heels._

" _Don't think I'll drop the fact that you could have freed yourself of the handcuff, but chose to stick by my side." Kol grabbed Bonnie's right upper arm, whispering the words into her ear._

" _You won't let it rest, will you?" She turned her fiery sight to his dark glance._

" _No, I won't, darling." He smirked, seductively._

_**ooOoo** _

_They entered a rounded chamber; with placed in the middle, on the Granit floor, the same sign they have seen on the door. A few torches were lightening the closed room, with black curtains covering the majority of the stones walls. An imposing crucifix was placed under a small altar, with a table covered by a long black tablecloth._

" _Bonnie Bennett?" They heard the call, before seeing a few women coming out of their hiding places behind the curtains, all dressed of long black tunics, with hoods placed over their long hair, the eldest of them addressing herself to her._

" _Yes." Bonnie nodded._

" _It's a pleasure to meet you." The woman approached the young apprentice, before handing her right hand to her._

" _Who are you?" Bonnie shook the woman's hand;_

" _My name is Kathleen; I've met your grandmother when I was a little girl; my mother was a member of this secret circle of witches." She informed her, evasively. "Why did you bring a vampire with you?" She glanced, narrowed sight at Kol, who was standing in setback behind Bonnie._

" _He's … He's my boyfriend." Bonnie could only came out with this poor excuse. "He won't hurt anybody." She shook her head._

" _I am?" Kol softly murmured to her ears; taking a step closer behind Bonnie's back._

" _Make him leave Kathleen, this is way too dangerous!" One of them exclaimed, before lowering her hood on her shoulders; long strands of blond hair cascading on her back._

" _I'm here in peace; I just want to put a stop to whatever the Vatican has planned for the Supernatural word." Kol took an extra step toward the leader of the clique; interlacing his fingers with Bonnie's, whose hand was shaking, with her fingers as cold as ice. The gothic effect of the place was obviously not adding to her comfort. "And aren't you the resistance? Aren't you against barbaric acts committed on the supernatural world? Aren't you, as witches, a part of that same world?"_

" _You are in the deepness of your own soul and being the reason why we all have been summoned by the Catholic Church. They want to get rid of the supernatural world, therefore including all vampires on this earth." Kathleen informed Kol. "But, you are right; we are against all barbaric acts, and we are the "resistance", because we know that there is worst evil in this Catholic Church that we could even encounter in the supernatural world, but nevertheless, I'm not ready to play Russian roulette with my life and the life of the other witches present in this meeting, Mister?"_

" _Kol … Kol Mikaelson." Kol nodded to the leader._

" _One of the Original vampires, or am I mistaking?" Kathleen asked._

" _You're not mistaking." He replied, while keeping his sight locked with hers._

" _You find a way to snatched one of the Originals in your bed, Miss Bennett?" Kathleen raised an eyebrow, teaser. "Your grandmother would probably smirk at the simple thought of it."_

_Bonnie felt a fire reaching her cheeks … What had possessed her to say that Kol was her boyfriend, seriously?_

" _Don't worry; you're not the first or the last witch who fell for one vampire. The supernatural world was met to cohabitate after all." She shrugged, mostly indifferent. "I'm more interested in knowing if you are both here to help us or not, because, after all, it could save your ass, Mister Mikaelson; and your species' ass as well."_

" _We are here to hear your side of the story." Kol replied, impassible. "Talk, we'll decide afterward."_

" _The question as of now is more: Are you ready to hear what needs to be said, Mister Mikaleson?" Kathleen added._

* * *

_**_**Russia, Petrov's mansion…** _ ** _

" _What do you mean my son slept in another bedroom suite?" Petrov exclaimed to Alexay, obviously unhappy by the news; while grabbing a white silk shirt from the hands of his assigned butler. "I thought they had spent the night together?"_

" _He left the suite in the middle of the night, and was escorted to a new bedroom suite." Alexay shrugged, without being able to give more explanation._

" _They have marital problems now, since when? He took a plane from Italy and basically stormed in here to save her! If this is not "love" what the hell is it?" Petrov busted, while pushing his arms in the sleeves of his shirt. "Plus, she's human! There's nothing more alluring than a human girl for a vampire, and he's a hybrid!"_

" _I don't have a degree in marital problems, Petrov, how should I know?" Alexay rolled his eyes to the ceiling._

" _This is not good! Not good at all … They need to … Well you know, what they need to do!" Ludvig intensified his way with a dismissal hand gesture._

" _Fooling around? Have sex? Make love? Doing it?" Alexay teased his boss._

" _It's whatever you wish to name it, for God sake Alexay!" Petrov lashed out. "How can I see a result to my plan if they are separated?" He added, grumpy; while dressing himself of his red velvet king cape._

" _Well, I suggest a little "chat" with your son, perhaps?" Alexay suggested, while grabbing Petrov's left shoulders in a friendly way. "In the meantime, you have a "party" to host."_

* * *

_Anastassia walked through the several corridors of her father's mansion; with the only sound of her high heels silver sandals hitting the marble floor to fill her empty mind, and the quietness of her home. If it was only for her agenda, she would have skipped this evening, and all festivities attached to it, in a heartbeat! Unfortunately, for the redhead Russian, she had been summoned by her father to be present, to welcome "her brother" into the family. Half-brother to be more exact, the hybrid named Klaus Mikaelson, the one man she could give a "fuck" about! Who was he to come into her life and steal her daddy from her?_

" _Either you've forgotten to wear your underwear, or your stylist thought that a see-through dress would add fuel to your father's rage, or last option you're trying to make an unforgettable first impression to your new brother, Klaus Mikaelson? I'm not sure which one of the three mentioned options is the one though?" Damon smirked, the right side of his upper body leaning on the corridor's wall._

_Anastassia raised her sight to glance at the dashing vampire man. Damon's tuxedo adding a few extra points to his own "over-the-chart" scale of sexiness, if this was even possible? He had a longer strand falling on his forehead; both hands were buried in his tuxedo pants in a nonchalant way, with in addition his incorrigibles smirk digging his dimples._

" _Why you don't like the view, Damon? I'd have never sized you for prude?" She suggestively eyed his body from head to toes, while taking a few extra seconds at his crotch. "Maybe I can't choose and it's all of the listed ones." She replied, chin rose; while holding her clutch bag near her chest._

" _I'm not complaining about the view, Anastassia, far from it." Damon replied, before taking a few slow, calculated steps to reach her standing position, his fiery sight sliding on her very deep cleavage, her perky, perfect breasts pushing on the transparent silver fabric of her dress._

" _Then, this conversation is futile and is making me lose minutes of my precious time." Anastassia brushed the vampire off, with a hand gesture. "And by the way, Damon, your tuxedo pants are too tight on the crotch area, not that I mind, far from it … If you have it, flaunt it!" She shrugged, walking by him, soon retained by a firm grip of his hands on her delicate right wrist; before being projected on the wall, her hands maintained above her head._

" _You know why I'm so tight in the crotch area, Anastassia?" Damon whispered, angrily, near her right ear, his head leaning at a near inch of the red head's neck. "Let me tell you why, it's because you left me, like a fool, tied to a bed, without giving me satisfaction." He growled, his body pressed on hers, with his left hand still keeping a firm hold on both of her wrists, placed above her head, while his right was raising the sheer fabric of her dress on her thighs, before reaching the bare flesh of her bottom. "You're not wearing any panties either, Anastassia, you're a very bad girl; aren't you?" He caressed the roundness of her buttocks; while his lips left a trail of kisses on her neck. "What are you doing to my sanity, woman?"_

" _Damon, let me go!" Anastassia tried to push him at arm length, before letting her vampire traits appear on her face._

" _Oh like this is going to scare me! Put that face away would you?" Damon ordered, impatient._

" _I'll put it away, when you'll get off of me!" She complained, but did as he wished, while squirming to free herself. Granted she was now using her vampire strength, but she was no match to Damon, in this present predicament._

" _You were more agreeable and happier, while sitting on my lap, in the bed? What have changed since then, tigress?" Damon asked, his lips kissing the soft curve of her jaw. "Or is it the fact that you're missing your whip to turn you on?"_

" _I was bored Damon; you were just a mean to an end for me to pass the time!" Anastassia shrugged, falsely indifferent. "Men are just a way for me to satisfy my sexual appetite, you can compare me to the black widow spider, I fuck, then I eat them alive until I'm completely finished with them; you were lucky I did not have time to finish you off." She whispered, seductress, while sliding her mouth on his earlobe to murmur the lethal words. "You're still interested?"_

" _Go fuck yourself, Anastassia!" Damon growled, furiously, before pushing himself at arm length of the sulfurous woman. "And stay away from me, from now on!" He pointed a finger at her chest._

" _Not a problem, Damon." The Russian woman smirked, pushing the sheer fabric of her dress, down on her long legs. "I'm sure I'll find hundreds of other men willing to fuck me the way it'll please me… We'll see each other in the evening, gorgeous; ta da!" She waved her manicured fingers at him, before swinging her perfect figure on her high heels sandals._

" _Well, I won't be one of them! And if you change your mind and want me to be one of them, you'll have to growl in front of me!" He yelled through the corridor, pacing back and forth, with a hand ruffling his hair. She can go to hell for what he could care! Why was he pushing the issue, anyway? There were hundreds of other women who were "willing" and "waiting" for him to give them a sign to jump into his bed. Anastassia Petrov was not important to him! Except…_

**_ooOoo_ **

_Alexandra turned the corridor corner, before pushing herself on the wall; eyes closed, right hand raised over her chest, intense shivers of desire hitting her body all at once._

_Damn it! Damon Salvatore was sexy as hell! A real Greek God on legs … Gosh, she would eat him, slowly … So slowly… She thought, while biting into her bottom lip. Anastassia get a fucking grip on yourself, girl! As of now, this vampire man thinks that he has no effect on you, and it needs to stay that way!_

* * *

_Rebekah turned the handle of her bedroom suite door; suddenly hit by a range of intense shivers, while standing nose to nose with a nonchalant Stefan Salvatore. The left side of his upper body was leaning on the arch, with his forearm placed above his head. He was dressed of a three pieces black tuxedo, with a bowtie garnishing his neck, and a seductive smirk his lips._

" _I would have brought you a corsage, but it was too short notice, I had no idea of the color of your dress, and I'm not accustomed to Russian protocol in such event." He teased, winking. "Damon, will catch up with us in the dining room."_

" _I hope he'll be dressed this time?" She couldn't hold the comment inside her mind. "And, you would have brought a corsage, for little_ _ **moi**_ _? It's not my style, anyway. It would have clashed with the designer dress." She rolled her eyes, falsely indifferent, before retracing her steps toward a nearby dresser, only to grab a few golden bracelets. She needed to occupy her mind; or he would notice how nervous she was around him, since his last phone call and his imply to rekindle their sexual relationship._

" _Are you saying that all these little "romantic" gestures are not of the taste of Rebekah Mikaelson? What have you done with the blond bombshell vampire, impostor – Did you locked her in the antics?" Stefan mocked more, while closing the bedroom door behind his back._

" _We change with time … Or should I say: life changes us." She responded, shrugging; before meeting Stefan's glance in the mirror, while dressing her ears of a pair of Emerald earrings._

" _You're a goddess in that dress." Stefan commented, his fiery sight sliding from the roundness of her shoulders, down on the small of her bare back. The long silk greenish dress was dressing her silhouette to the perfection, like it was a second skin._

" _Thank you." Rebekah managed to respond, in perfect control of the tremors in her voice; but with a nervous lump being swallowed in her throat, nevertheless. Stop looking at me this way – God damn it!_

" _So beautiful and sexy …" The young vampire let his slender fingers softly brush the bare skin of her back. "The dress is a gift from Petrov, I suppose?" He inquired, while gluing his chest to her back, his chin resting on top of her head, while his hands were rubbing the length of her arms._

" _Eh … Yes, the box was actually on the bed, with the compliments of Klaus's biological father." Rebekah nodded, while lowering her sight down from the mirror. The way he was looking at her was disconcerting. "I thought about sending it back, but who am I to return a gift, especially if it's a Dior dress?" She shrugged, shallowly; before unexpectedly closing her eyes, a loud moan escaping her lips, while her head falling back on Stefan's chest… His hands encircled her waist, while his lips left a trail of kisses from the left side of her neck, to the hollow of her shoulder. "Stefan… What … What are you doing?" She managed a whisper sentence to escape her lips._

" _Taking what I wanted since a long time." He responded, hoarsely; his hands rising on her shoulders, only to push the straps of Rebekah's dress down on her upper arms._

" _We can't … We can't do this." She shook her head, eyes shut, tip of her tongue moistening her dry lips._

" _I want you, Bekah … I want you so much." He whispered, while nibbling on her left earlobe, both hands sliding down her arms, only to palpate the soft curve of her breast._

" _It's wrong…. We've … We've done this before, it doesn't work between us." She tried, willy-nilly to get a grip on herself, failing miserably when she felt both of his hands sliding underneath the falling front of her dress, to softly caress the bare skin of her breasts._

" _I disagree; I think it works pretty well." He replied, in one breath; before turning her body around to face him. "Give me what I want, Bekah; kiss me … Please?" He grabbed her chin, his sight locked with hers._

_Was Stefan Salvatore begging her, what this even real? She wondered to herself. She came short of time when she felt his lips brushed hers, a loud growl of satisfaction escaping his throat._

" _You just need to say "yes" and we'll find a way to skip this party in a heartbeat." Stefan mouthed the words on her parted lips, while deepening his kiss with his tongue sliding inside her mouth._

" _Stefan … I … Mm…" She moaned under his erotic assault; her breasts crushed on his muscular chest, her hands now buried in his dark locks at the base of his neck._

" _Fuck this party! I want you now, on this bed, Rebekah." Stefan implored, while slowly pushing her toward the King size one. The large size could get handy, he thought; erotic images filling his mind._

_It's when the back of her knees hit the mattress that Rebekah regained her sense of reality. She pushed both of her hands on the vampire's chest, to regain her freedom from his embrace._

" _No!" Rebekah shook her head. "I don't want this between us … I mean; not anymore." She raised the straps of her dress back on her shoulders, with her shaking hands, to give herself a sense of respect._

" _You want this as much as I want it, Rebekah; don't tell me otherwise?" Stefan mumbled, angrily; between his teeth._

" _Perhaps, but I still remember the dagger you plunged into my heart, when you decided to throw me on the side many years ago, and the young, innocent, and naïve child I was back then is now a grown up woman that deserves better in her life." She lashed to his face, before grabbing the golden high heels sandals left on the carpet, only to storm outside her bedroom suite with a loud slam of the door._

" _Rebekah!" Stefan called the name to a closed door, mostly concerned; before letting his rage out by kicking a chair down with his right foot. "Damn it; fuck you and your stupid ideas Salvatore!"_

* * *

_Carolina slowly turned the door handle of her sibling's bedroom suite, before meeting the teary eyes of her sister. She was standing near the bed; deep, dark circles under her eyes. Elijah had come to see her earlier, pretesting that Katerina had arrived in Petrov's mansion and needed to talk with her. But, by the general look of her brother-in-law, Carolina had known by instinct that Katerina had taken badly her transformation as a vampire._

" _Oh, Katerina; I'm so sorry I should have stayed in Italy with you!" Carolina exclaimed, before closing the door behind her back, only to rush by her sister's side to wrap her arms around her frail silhouette._

" _Oh Carolina, my sweet baby sister… Don't … Don't blame yourself, please, don't …" Katerina stammered, tears rolling on her face; while holding her sister with all the strength she had left in her, both hands caressing her sister's hair._

" _Are you ok? How … I mean, are you managing your new conditions? Is it hard?" Carolina asked, her mixed emotions being expressed all over the place._

_Katerina softly pushed her sister at arm length, before caressing Carolina's left cheek, only to turn her back at her a second later._

" _Katerina, let me be here for you; confide in me, please?" Carolina begged, lowering her head on her sister's right shoulder._

" _There's nothing to confide, Carolina; It's … It's "pain" all over, and it never leaves you, not even for a second." The young Russian closed her eyes, tears filling her eyelids._

" _Elijah, maybe … Maybe he could help you with the transition?" Carolina proposed, on the tip of her toes._

" _Help me? Don't you think that he helped me enough?" Katerina turned on herself to face her sister, closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body. "He put me in this predicament, he … He made me the monster that I am."_

" _Your husband loves you so much, of that fact I am certain. The man is basically devastated; he wants for you to get better, Katerina; he wants for you to live." Carolina pleaded in Elijah's behalf. "If he turned you, it's because he had no other choices."_

" _He wants what he wants for his own benefits and enjoyment; he's a man, Carolina. Believe me, they are all selfish inside." Katerina mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _What happened to you? Why … Why are you like this?" Carolina felt a lump form in her throat._

" _What? You don't like your new improve vampire sister?" Katerina lashed out to his sister's face._

" _You're never been that mean and resentful before; you always took the "bad" to make it better?" Carolina commented, disconcerted._

" _Well, it was before I was turned as a vampire." Katerina replied, resentful._

" _Fine, I'll leave you to your misery, then!" Carolina lashed out, before retracing her steps toward the bedroom door, being held on her impulse, by a firm grip of her sister's hand on her left upper arm._

" _No, no … Please, Carolina; don't leave me, please?" Katerina begged her sister; in the verge of nervous breakdown._

" _Ok, I won't leave you; I won't leave you, Katerina." Carolina wrapped her arms around her sister's shoulders, both of their bodies falling on the wooden floor; with only their tears to break the silence of the bedroom suite._

_**ooOoo** _

" _It's my entire fault… All of this, it's my entire fault!" Katerina mumbled, between her teeth, with her head resting comfortably on her sister's chest._

" _What are you saying; nothing is your fault, Katerina." Carolina responded, placed in a sitting position on the floor, with her back resting on a wall, while softly caressing her sister's cascade of brown curls._

" _I was the one who contacted the marital agency; I was the one who brought this "hell" into our life." The brunette replied, sniffing._

" _It's not that bad." Caroline shrugged, fatalist._

" _Count on you for finding this predicament enjoyable." Katerina raised her head to glance at her sister, a trace of laughter in her voice. "You had found a way to fall for him, didn't you?"_

_Carolina flustered under her sister's say, redness filling both of her cheeks._

" _Yes, I fell in love with Klaus." Carolina nodded her head, while lowering her sight. "I know what you're going to say, he's … I mean, he wouldn't be your first choice for me, but … He's everything that I ever wanted, without actually knowing it. He's broken in thousands of pieces, Katerina; he just needs to let me put him back together, but he's fighting it with all that he got inside of him."_

" _Aren't men all the same? Broken inside, in desperate need for women to put them back together?" Katerina strengthened her body in a sitting position, nervously passing a hand through her tangled brown hair. "He's not my first choice for you, but … If you want "him" who am I to argue what your heart has decided that would make you happy?"_

" _I know … I mean, I'm pretty certain that you have fallen in love with Elijah too, Katerina; I've seen the way you look at him. You're just pissed because he betrayed your trust and turned you as a vampire." Carolina expressed her thoughts. "But, Katerina, what other choices do we have? The day we'd realized that we were mixed in the supernatural world, by marrying those men, we knew within ourselves that we'd have to turn eventually. Please, don't tell me I was the only one thinking this, or I'll go crazy in my head if so?"_

_Katerina turned her head to stare at her sister, a loud sigh escaping her trembling lisp._

" _I knew." She finally admitted._

" _But you romanticized the notion in your head, did you?" Carolina guessed._

" _Yes, I did." Katerina admitted, shamefully. "I thought I would turn on my own terms and time, on a gigantic bed, with rose petals all over, while lying naked beside my husband." She added, with laughter escaping her lips, and a few tears her eyes._

" _Wow, who knew my older sister had this romantic side hidden inside of her?" Carolina brushed her sister's tears away, her right hand sweeping them, one by one._

" _Who knew that my baby sister had become such a wise and grow-up woman?" Katerina commented, proudness filling her tone of voice._

" _Promise me that you'll nourish yourself of blood and that you'll give Elijah a chance, he truly loves you…He wants to make things better for you." Carolina suggested. "Ok?"_

" _I'll try." Katerina nodded, in an obedient way. "In the meantime, sister; you've managed to bring all of us in Petrov's mansion, how in hell did you manage this?" She questioned, while squeezing Carolina's hands, in a playful gesture._

" _That what happens when I act irrationally and don't think for a second of the repercussions?" Caroline sighed, while rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "I just … I wanted this war to stop in what we can call our family now."_

" _I guess we have a party to attend then?" Katerina let a timid smile spread on her lips, before grabbing her baby sister by the shoulders to give her a hug._

* * *

_Redness reached both of Carolina's cheeks while sliding the pair of suspender stockings on the length of her legs. The dress was not on a lower level of sexiness either, she noticed while grabbing the fabric on its hanger. The off-white silk ballroom gown had a very deep cleavage on front, narrowed straps, and a much deeper cut of fabric in the back! No way in hell, would she even be able to wear a bra underneath it; which made her even more uncomfortable if only for the fact that Klaus's biological father had delivered the gift box and many accessories bags at her suite as a complimentary gesture. Now she could only hope and pray that Ludvig Petrov was not fancying her in that way, could she?_

_On her list of "worrying" subjects, the fact that her husband had passed the night in an adjacent bedroom suite was certainly winning the price at its top! She had laid in the dark, eyes-wide opened for hours, with the only sound of her sobbing to keep her company, and fill the emptiness of the room. And now her heart was balancing between a rage grander than life, and the horrible sadness that her short-lived marriage was in fact over._

_Carolina passed the dress above her head, before feeling the exquisite fabric slide on her nakedness, her body only dressed by a lace pair of minuscule panties and a pair of suspender stockings. She faced the mirror to take a look at her reflection, and couldn't believe what she was seeing. The deep cleavage exposed her breasts, while enhancing their roundness in an undeniable flattering way. She turned on herself to take a look at her exposed back below the line of her waist. This was probably of bad taste for such classic event as dinner, but what else could she do or wear?_

_The creak of her bedroom suite door made her startled, her sight meeting her husband's in the mirror placed in front of her standing position._

" _I won't be here for long, Carolina; I just need to pick-up the tuxedo suit and I'll be out of your way." He informed, toneless; a lump being swallowed in his throat at the exquisite view of his wife. Never a dress had dressed Carolina in a more perfect way. The fabric was like a second skin glued to the curves of her body. A hot fever spread in his entire body like a fire that could not be extinguished, blood reaching his crutch area in a more than obvious erection. That damn dress was not helping his intention to stay at arm length from his wife; even if he had been keeping a close watch and a good eye on her. "Where is the damn suit?" He growled, while scattering the bedroom suite, only to walk back and forth to get his hand on it… As quickly as possible, or he would not be held responsible of his damn actions… The gigantic bed was screaming from him to throw her on its mattress, and tear the dress off her body, only take her roughly for hours!_

_Carolina closed both of her fists in anger. If this particular dress was not even doing the trick as to capture the attention of her husband, nothing would!_

" _What do I care what you need? They brought it in here, earlier, and put it somewhere, you'll have to find the damn clothes yourself." She shrugged, while sliding her fingers in her golden curls, only to place a few strands behind her ears._

_Klaus suddenly held his pace in front of the bathroom door, before turning his head toward his wife, a dumbfounded expression plastered on his face._

" _You have a sharp tongue tonight, Carolina?" Klaus questioned, with a raised eyebrow._

" _It goes hand to hand with your asshole attitude, Klaus." The Russian blonde replied, tit for tat, while shrugging casually… Too casually, actually…inside her chest her heartbeats were raising like a machine gun!_

" _Are you trying to retain my attention, Love? Do you really need me to compliment you; to gain a sense of worth in your femininity?" Klaus commented, dryly; while entering the walk-in closet, only to grab his tuxedo placed on a hanger…Finally!_

" _None sense! I'm sure the party will be filled with nice, polite men who will like my dress, and find myself to their taste." She replied, perniciously. "At least your father is recognizing my charms."_

" _Well, Petrov has been accustomed to the escort service, no offense to your sister; so I guess that would explain his poor choice in dresses, would it?" He replied, nastily; while approaching her standing position._

_The minute the words had escaped his lips, and at the view of her teary eyes, he regretted them, bitterly. He had never saw Carolina look more beautiful or sexier than in that dress. But acknowledging that fact would put his sanity in danger… He had promised himself to protect her until this all deal with his biological father would come to an end. But after that, he would give Carolina her freedom back to her._

" _поцеловать меня в задницу!" Carolina lashed out in her natal language, while telling him to go fuck himself. "In fact, in that case, I'm sure one of Petrov's trollops will be more than willing to fuck you, they are accustomed to not have the choice to sleep with the best anyway!" She added, spiteful._

" _Well, I guess you've joined their low standard by accepting to wear Petrov's dress then; therefore I could pay you for your services as well, sweetheart?" Klaus busted back to her face. "Though, I'm not sure you could satisfy my rough tendencies, I'm kind of a beast in bed!"_

_The sound of the slap reasoned in the entire suite, while hitting Klaus's cheek and jaw in the most hurtful way. He deserved it; he had pushed Carolina to her limits; while feeling like the biggest jerk around._

" _You think I'm a slot for accepting to wear your father's dress, Klaus? Really … Fine, I'll get rid of it then!" Carolina busted to his face; before sliding the straps on her arms, only to push the silk fabric on her legs to let it fall on the wooden floor. "Are you happy now, Klaus?" She raised her chin in a confrontational gesture._

_Her ivory naked skin and her perky breasts would have damned a saint – And a saint, Klaus Mikaelson was not! He threw the tuxedo suit on the bed, giving no time for Carolina to react, only to speed toward her standing position, before pushing her on the wall with his mouth crashing on hers. She let out a cry of surprise under his sudden sensual assault; squirming underneath him, only to raise her hands on his muscular chest to cross her arms around his neck, with their lips sucking the breaths out of each other, tongues roughly interlacing._

_Carolina couldn't recall when or how they had reached the bed, but her back hitting the mattress, with his hands sliding from the curves of her bottom only to tear her panties in two, made her realize they were crossing an invisible line._

" _Raise your knees and open your legs!" The hybrid ordered her, with fierceness; before placing himself between them, sucking one nipple with his mouth, on his descent to more forbidden pleasures, before sliding his manly lips on her belly, lower on the soft blonde triangle of pubic hair, only to reach the wetness and warmness of her core, both of his hands pushing on her pelvic bone to keep her immobile._

" _Klaus!" Carolina let the cry of his name escape her parted lips; her head rolling on the bed, alternatively from left to right – right to left; with her hands cupping and caressing her own breasts to help her release the sexual tension building inside of core._

_His mouth tasted her privacy now, from slow slide of his tongue on her private folds, to his lips teasing her most sensitive spot, to the hard and fast thrusting of his fingers inside of her walls. He was way rougher than usual, but … but … She liked it! She would have wanted even more roughness… She would have let herself fall into Klaus's pernicious ways at the moment._

_It did not take long for her to reach her orgasm in loud cries of his name, panting and in desperate need of more … In desperate need of feeling him inside of herself._

_When she finally reopened her eyes, she was met by the coldness of sheet being pulled in top of her naked body, and the emptiness in her husband's glance that was staring at her. Klaus grabbed his tuxedo suit left on the other side of the bed, and without a word, stormed out of the bedroom suite._

_Carolina raised her upper body in a sitting position, with the sheet raised in front of her bare chest. She let her lips raised into a smile … Klaus desired her … Still! She don't care how she would make it happen, even if she had to flirt with all the men present in the party, but she would have her husband in her bed tonight … That was a promise she would keep to herself!_

* * *

_Elijah stepped outside the luxury bathroom, chest naked, with as only clothes, the black pair of pants from his tuxedo set to dress him up._

_Katerina eyed him from the corner of her eyes, an intense fire spreading from her core, to her entire body, before landing on her cheeks. Since she has turned as a vampire, she had felt all her senses more intensively; and her sex-drive for some kind of unknown reasons, has reached the ceiling point! And not to help her cause, her vampire husband was drop-dead handsome!_

" _You can use the bathroom if you need it?" Elijah politely offered, while glancing in her direction; a stiffness reaching his crotch area. God! She was beautiful. She was standing in front of a mirror; placed above a dresser, while wearing a pair of French lace black garters; with the matching panties and corset… The "things" his mind was envisioning doing to her at the present moment were certainly sinful!_

" _No, I don't need to use the bathroom anymore, I'm fine thank you." She responded, politely; with a nod._

_They have reached a polite – formal state of exchange between them, since their last altercation and the fact she had accepted to drink his blood._

" _Ok then, Katerina." He nodded, politely. And politeness was not exactly what he had in his mind at the moment, he thought to himself, while grabbing the silk shirt, dropped on one of the armchairs, placed in front of the fireplace. "Did you see your sister?" He asked, before frowning to himself; maybe he should have retained the urge to bring the subject up?_

" _Yes, I saw her." She simply responded._

_Well, talkative was not one of his wife's features these days! Nevertheless, he sighed with relief when she did not bring an additional argument to the table._

" _Good." He nodded, while closing the buttons of his shirt, before sliding his bow tie around his collar._

" _It's …" Katerina pointed toward his neck._

" _What?" Elijah raised an eyebrow at her._

" _It's crooked." She pointed out, while closing the space between them, before raising both hands on his chest to reach the bow tie; while raising herself on her tiptoes. "Let me do it." She proposed._

_Oh beautiful, do whatever you want with me … Elijah thought, while swallowing a nervous lump into his throat, before slowly raising his hands on each side of her waist to keep her equilibrium… So he would say, of course!_

_Katerina startled at the touch of his hands on her corset, burning her skin through the sheer fabric. Damn! Why was she so horny at the moment?_

" _It's … It's to help you keep your equilibrium." He presented his poor thought excuse, under a discreet cough._

" _Oh, that's ok." Katerina cleared her own throat, while executing a perfect bow to his tie. "And do your hands need to be on my butt to help me keep my equilibrium too, Elijah?" She inquired, with a raised eyebrow, while raising her sight in his. "And by the way your bowtie is fixed now, you look impeccable like always."_

" _Well, the fabric of your corset is kind of slippery." He smirked. Oh for God sake, Elijah Mikaelson, this is the worst pick-up line you've used in one thousand years of existence!_

" _My corset is slippery, that's your excuse?" Katerina repeated, a timid smile raising both corners of her lips._

_That was all the "white-flag" Elijah needed to encourage him to pursue his seduction quest._

" _Katerina…" Elijah softly whispered, eyes closed, with his chin now resting on top of her head. "I'm not made of wood you know? Tell me to stop, or I won't be able to do it myself." He added, while slowly caressing the delicious curves of her buttocks._

" _I … I mean, your bowtie is in place now." She stammered, an intense fire reaching both cheeks, both hands rising on his muscular chest, attracted like a magnet; only to caress his tensed skin through the silk fabric._

" _If you think that a bowtie could forbid me to obtain what I want, you're sadly mistaking, beautiful." He growled with frustration, both hands rising from below, only to cup her face, before crashing his mouth on hers._

_They stomped on their own feet, twirling, losing their balance, and hitting furniture, only to grab each other bodies like their life depended on it. Katerina let a loud moan of pleasure escape her lips at the moment that he pushed her hard on the wall placed behind their backs, his tongue sliding between her lips, only to taste her mouth in a deeper way, before raising her body in his arms; with her legs wrapping around his waist. Her hands pulled on his man shirt; only to pop-open the range of buttons, and untying the bowtie, before scratching his skin deep, until his blood flew from the small cuts on his chest. It did not take long for Katerina to feel the call of the blood, slowly transforming in front of his sight … She had not fed since her departure from Italy._

_Elijah suddenly dropped her back on her legs, softly pushing himself at arm length._

" _We need to stop!" Elijah warned them both. "You're hungry, aren't you?" He asked, while trying to get a grip on his own arousal to put her needs before his own._

_She nodded her head, shamefully; before lowering her sight away from her husband's._

" _Don't worry I won't beg you; I thought … I thought this would turn you "on"; but obviously I was wrong." She scuffed his relax attitude, while trying to pass by him, before being forcefully retained on her left upper arm, only to be pushed back on the wall, with both of his hands grabbing her shoulders firmly._

" _Stop acting like a spoiled child for once!" Elijah growled, with a loud sigh. "And believe me, woman; I want you more now than I have ever wanted you before. But, as much as I want you, I don't want to take advantage of you in your transition."_

" _I don't … I don't understand?" Katerina raised her chin, still confrontational, but more willing to listen to his words._

" _Your all body is graving for blood, like a drug; but it'll grave for many other things, and sex is one of them. It can come to a point that you'll use sex to fill a void, and call me crazy I don't want that for you." Elijah tried to explain to her. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"_

" _I think …" She nodded, redness reaching her cheeks. Well, that was certainly explaining a lot of what she had been experimenting as strange behaviour at the simple view of her husband._

" _Foremost, you need to learn how to control yourself, Katerina; or "it" will control you in no time." He added, softly. "Now, do you want to drink my blood or a blood bag?"_

" _I want …" Katerina tried to articulate, her teeth biting into her bottom lip._ _ **I want for you to fuck me hard on this bed!**_ _Is this too direct for you Elijah? Probably, and now that she knew from where her sudden sex-drive was coming from, it tasted like regret in her mouth. "I want your blood." She finally confessed, while swallowing a lump in her throat._

_Elijah nodded, his teeth sinking in the surface of his right forearm, before offering the opened wound to his wife._

" _Drink as much as you need." Elijah offered, eyes closed; her soft lips touching the wounded skin, a few seconds before her fangs tore his flesh. "Oh Katerina!" He moaned, in ecstasy; while pulling her body near his chest, his chin resting on top of her head._

* * *

" _Oh, George… What are you doing here?" Maria closed the door of her bedroom suite behind her back; with her right hand raising the fabric of her long gown, while leading her steps into the corridor._

" _I want to assure myself that you'll find your way to the dining room safely and in one piece." George presented his left arm to her._

" _Well, it's thoughtful of you, but completely unnecessary." She replied, smiling; before sliding her own underneath his, with her hand resting comfortably on his forearm. "I don't fear any danger at the moment; this party will be just a way that Petrov came-up with to make a spectacle of his richness in front of Klaus."_

" _But, you wore the dress he offered you, nonetheless?" He raised an eyebrow._

" _It's a dress, George; one that I guess will fit with this theatrical role that we need to play." Maria commented, while sighing loudly. "Don't see more to it, not that you should… I mean… I don't know what I mean…" She shook her head, redness reaching her cheeks._

" _You're adorable when you're stammering in my presence." George commented, before slowly raising his right hand to grab Maria's chin. "And regardless of who offered it to you, you take my breath away in this dress." He complemented, his sight drown in hers._

" _Thank you, it's extremely kind of you to say, George." Maria swallowed a lump in her throat, goosebumps spreading on her entire body._

" _I'm not kind, Maria; I'm actually extremely horny at the moment. Petrov knew exactly what he was doing while choosing that dress. Too bad he's not here to enjoy it like I am." George confessed, in front of her flustered self. "Can I kiss you?"_

" _No, it's highly …" She stammered, nervously; before feeling one of his fingers pushing on her lips to silence her._

" _If you say the term "inappropriate" one more time, I swear, I'll scream from the top of my lungs!" George teased, before slowly bending his head near Maria's. "Maybe, it's time for you to have "inappropriate" thoughts for a change?" He winked, before brushing her lips of a kiss. "It wasn't that bad, was it?" He softly mouthed the words._

_Maria slowly reopened her eyes, an intense fire spreading in her body, heart and soul. When was the last time she had felt this way for a man?_

" _No, it wasn't." She shook her head, a timid smile blessing both corners of her lips._

" _Shall we go to this masquerade now?" George presented his arm to her, once more._

" _We shall." Maria replied, before grabbing the man's arm like her life depended on it._

* * *

" _Why the long face?" Stefan asked his brother, while walking along Damon's side, in the corridor leading them to the majestic dining room. "Do you have problems with a certain red head woman?" He teased. "By the way, I can't wait to meet her if she's turning you into this love sick puppy."_

" _Do you see a red head woman walking by my side at the moment? No? Then, just shut up, would you Stefan?!" Damon mumbled, angrily; between his teeth._

" _Touchy subject as I can see. What? She did not fell for your charm?" Stefan mocked more._

" _Talking about long face? You should look at your own at the moment … Don't tell me the female Barracuda of the Mikaelson family did a number on you, once again?" Damon chuckled. "Weren't you the one who had promised himself to never fell into her lethal claws?"_

_Stefan sighed loudly; while turning his attention toward the entrance of the manor, where guests were starting to arrive._

" _What? No sneaky replica from your part?" Damon winked._

" _She changed, Damon; she's not this insecure young girl anymore." Stefan confessed, with a small cough to hide his shyness._

" _Well, I hope she's not a young girl anymore, considering she has one thousand years under her belt!" Damon teased._

" _You know what I mean." Stefan shrugged, impatient._

" _Well, hopefully; she won't pull a fast one on you this time." Damon concluded, before passing the threshold of the dining room._

" _Wow! Can you spell "palace"?" Stefan opened his eyes widely at the décor._

" _Opulence is undeniably one of my biological father's vices." Klaus winced at the room set-up, while suddenly appearing by their sides; both hands buried in his white tuxedo pair of pants._

" _Well, at least we know now from where all your vices are coming." Damon replied, perniciously; a smile spreading from ear to ear._

" _Oh Damon, is this you, mate? I did not recognize you without your legs and arms, wide-opened." Klaus threw his repartee, a smirk appearing on his manly lips._

" _I'm going to shut your big mouth, Mikaelson." Damon rushed to grab the hybrid's collar; before being retained in his momentum by Stefan._

" _Can you get a grip on yourself, for God sake, Damon?!" Stefan pushed his brother at arm length from Klaus's standing position. "You're making a spectacle in front of the invitees."_

" _Your brother has the tendencies to love being the center of attraction." A feminine voice cut in the middle of their joust._

_All three men turned their sight toward the red head bombshell that had suddenly appeared by their sides._

" _Anastassia Petrov, if I am not mistaking?" Stefan grabbed her right hand, before brushing his lips on its back. "I'm charmed to meet you."_

" _Charmed as well, and aren't you a gentleman, Mister Stefan Salvatore." Anastassia commented, her dark red lips curving into a seductive smile. "At least you have good manners, which your brother is obviously lacking."_

" _Really, you want to talk about my lack of good manners?" Damon commented, wincing._

" _Don't mind my brother; he's still learning how to be a gentleman to a beautiful woman such as you, my dear." Stefan commented, winking. "May I present to you, Klaus Mikaelson, your half-brother?" He turned toward his hybrid's friend, with a hand gesture._

" _I'm not interested in meeting him." Anastassia replied, dryly._

" _It goes both ways, sweetheart; I couldn't care less about you." Klaus replied, without even glancing in her direction._

" _член!" Anastassia threw the insult in Russian, in Klaus's face, before turning on herself to leave the small group of men._

" _Did she just call you a "dick", Mikaelson?" Damon chuckled, while lowering his head to hide his amusement._

" _I truly like her already!" Stefan commented, smirking._

* * *

" _Is it ok, if I leave you near the bar?" George asked Maria, while scattering the premises of the dining room, before grabbing a glass of champagne to slide it in Maria's hand._

" _Yes, it's fine… I mean, I'll be fine; I see my son Klaus, and both Stefan and Damon are already present." Maria nodded toward the opposite side of the room._

" _Good, I'll just do a quick inspection." George informed Maria, before raising his right hand to caress her cheek._

" _Of course, I tend to forget that …" She started to explain herself before being cut in the middle of her sentence._

" _You tend to forget that I'm still your son's bodyguard." George finished her say, a smile spreading on his lips. "Maybe, it's a good sign?"_

" _In which way do you believe this is a good sign, George?" Maria asked, before taking a large gulp of her champagne to calm her raging nerves and the tremors in her voice._

" _Maybe you're starting to see me as a "man" now? And maybe one day; you'll see "me" as more?" George concluded, before bending his head near Maria's to brush her cheek of a chaste kiss, under her closed eyes._

_When Maria re-opened them, he had left her side; leaving a void in her._

" _The day I chose that dress for you, I knew you would take my breath away while wearing it." Maria heard Petrov's address himself to her._

" _You have good taste, I can't deny that fact." She turned on herself to face the imposing Russian man, her chin raised in confrontational gesture, sigh locked with his. "But the matching cape, in the same fabric of my dress, was a bit eccentric of your part, would you say?" She winced, disdainfully._

" _What can I say? I see you as my Queen." Petrov smirked. "Ingrid, I …" He, then, tried to explain his turmoil, without being able to formulate his say in comprehensible words._

" _It is Maria now, how many times I will need to repeat myself?" She lashed out, furiously; before deposing her empty glass on a nearby service table, only to grab a filled one._

" _Maria then … We'll need to talk in private, and you know it?" Petrov suggested, his fiery sight sliding from her bare shoulders to the deep cleavage of her dress._

" _I don't think it'll be possible." Maria replied, while turning his back to the man._

" _Maria…" She heard the soft whisper in her ears; Petrov's hands sliding on top of her shoulders. "We share a son together, look at him? Isn't he the most proud and prestigious man you ever saw?"_

" _I share many other children with my previous husband; do you see me, willingly, have private conversation with him?" She replied, tit for tat; before turning on herself to raise her sight in Petrov's. "Do your theatrical play, Ludvig; prove your wealth and power to your guests, but leave me and my children out of your life!" She busted to his face, before leaving him, speechless, on site._

* * *

_Elijah and Katerina descended the majestic stairs, the many veils of her purple dress brushing the fabric of his pants with each movement she was making._

" _Give me your hand." Elijah handed his own to Katerina._

" _Why?" Katerina eyed him, suspiciously._

" _Because, I want to held my wife's hand in mine? Is it a good enough reason for you?" Elijah replied, smirking._

" _Why?" Katerina pushed the issue, a spark of amusement reaching her eyes, but not her lips, but while still obliging to his request, by sliding her fingers in his strong, masculine hand._

" _You're the most stubborn woman I've ever met in all my thousand years on this earth." Elijah sighed loudly, while rolling his eyes to the ceiling._

" _That's not answering my question?" Katerina arched an eyebrow._

" _Fine… Because I'm putting my mark on you; I'm territorial, sue me, Katerina." Elijah replied, as explanation. "We are on enemy's land, and if I show to public eyes to which you belong; there is a strong chance that you'll be even more save that you are now."_

" _Being your wife does that, no?" Katerina questioned, dumbfounded._

" _Not necessarily; there is even more arranged marriage in the supernatural world." Elijah shrugged, fatalist._

" _But, isn't it what our marriage is, an arranged one?" She questioned, in good faith._

" _Not for me, it isn't." He replied, while turning his fiery sight to glance at his wife._

_Katerina lowered her head, an intense fire reaching both of her cheeks all at once. The way he was looking at her sometimes, was so intense that she couldn't even handle it._

_They finished their descent of the stairs in silence, before coming nose to nose with Carolina in the entrance of the mansion._

" _Where's Klaus?" Elijah asked Katerina's sister, with a raised eyebrow._

" _I don't know; somewhere around here." Carolina shrugged. "It's not like I don't know my way around this place by now." She added, with her arms crossed over her evening gown._

" _That is beside the point, Carolina; you need to stay by his side in all cost." Elijah scolded the young woman. "Do you hear me?"_

" _Well, I'm sorry to displease you, Elijah; but my husband doesn't want me by his side at the moment." She lashed out to his face, both closed fists suddenly placed on each side of her hips._

" _I highly doubt that, Carolina." Elijah sighed loudly; before turning his sight toward his wife. "Stay with her, I'll try to find my brother and put good sense inside of his tick skull!" He added, before storming toward the corridor leading to the dining room._

" _What now? He'll beg Klaus to be by my side, and we'll play the perfect married couple?" Caroline growled, unhappy._

" _Isn't the man you swore to me earlier that you wanted to be with?" Katerina couldn't do without making the remark._

" _He is! But he is also extremely stubborn of what I want at the moment." Caroline sighed loudly._

" _No, no … Tell me, it isn't so, Carolina?" Katerina shook her head, in denial._

" _I want him to turn me, Katerina; how do you think I feel at the moment? You … You turned, and I'm the only human left." Carolina tried to explain her uneasiness._

" _Being a human, it's a gift for now, Carolina; you don't need to rush this, please, promise me to not rush this idea of yours?" Katerina begged, while grabbing her sister's hands._

" _You're such a hypocrite, Katerina." Caroline lashed out. "You're standing here, in all your vampire glory; with nothing standing in your way anymore."_

" _You sincerely think that being a vampire is assuring the success of my marriage?" Katerina busted to her sister's face. "Then you're a fool, Carolina!"_

" _Yah, then I'm a fool!" Carolina replied, tears rolling on her cheeks, before raising the skirt of her long dress, only to turn on herself to run away from her sister._

" _Carolina? Please come back, I didn't mean what I've said to you!" Katerina yelled through the corridor, curious guests' eyes staring at her._

" _She has a good point, you know; she needs to turn and the sooner will be the better!" She heard the hoarsely voice in her ears, cold shivers hitting her body all at once._

_She slowly turned on herself, before facing her worst nightmare in the form of Mikael Mikaelson._

" _How are you my dear? You seem well?" Mikael had the audacity of asking her._

* * *

" _My guests, welcome!" Petrov exclaimed, glass of champagne at hand, under the wild applauses of his guest, before climbing on a small podium fit for a king. "Thank you for accepting this short notice invitation. You'll soon be sited on your attributed seat around the tables."_

" _What did I miss?" Rebekah asked, placing herself by Klaus's side; before taking a quick glance at Stefan, from the corner of her eyes._

" _Except the obvious, not much!" Klaus replied, while nodding in direction of Petrov's presentation._

" _Tonight is a special night for me and for all of you. The day has come my friends, that I'm finally able to present my heir to you." Petrov announced, ceremoniously._

" _For once, Mikaelson, I feel for you." Damon whispered the words, his head bended near Klaus's._

" _Well, don't make it a habit, would you, Salvatore?" Klaus frowned._

" _Oh don't even worry about it." Damon smirked._

" _Please, welcome my sons into our supernatural family, Klaus Mikaelson come join me on the podium, would you?" Petrov invited the hybrid to join him._

" _Eww… Tell me he did not do this in front of all these people?" Stefan winced, while shaking his shoulders in disdain._

" _If you don't want to go, and please Petrov's ego, don't go, you hear me?" Maria suddenly appeared by his son's side, while grabbing Klaus's right upper arm._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the warm welcome this story received on this site, it goes to my heart.  
> This said, take good note that, as of now, I had the chance to find a new job, and I have less time to write, real life obligations setting their feet on the ground, so to speak ;)   
> But be reassured, that I will continue this story. Thank you for your understanding and patience.


	26. The king's big bash - Part 2

" _If only you could…" Klaus closed his eyes, while trying to articulate his hidden thoughts to his mother._

" _If only I could what, my son?" Maria asked, tears reaching her eyes._

" _If you could remember something that could make me hate him less, have less resentful feelings toward my fa…Toward Ludvig?" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; before turning his glance toward Petrov who stood patiently, his sight locked with his son's._

" _I'm sorry, I … I don't remember anything specific to this point … But, Klaus, please…Remember this…" Maria squeezed Klaus's hand. "Regardless of everything, he's still your biological father, and … He, apparently, did not have the chance to share your childhood, try to … Try to not be too resentful of the past, when you can draw your future with him." She managed to let out in a single breath._

_Klaus nodded discreetly to his mother, a timid smile appearing in the corners of his lips._

" _I can't promise anything to this point, Maria." He whispered, blessing her forehead of a chaste kiss; before turning his body around to face his biological father._

" _Is it me or hundreds of eyes are starring in our direction?" Damon commented to his brother._

" _Well, it's not just you." Stefan winced._

" _Not my fault if I'm feeling kind of self-conscious at the moment." Damon swallowed a lump in his throat; while pulling on his bowtie. "They are all looking at us, like we are actually the main dish that will be served as first service."_

" _You're feeling more self-conscious than being self-restrained to a bedframe?" Rebekah smirked, while whispering the implied._

" _You've told her?" Damon opened his eyes widely, before elbowing his brother._

" _Oh come on, Damon! You're always been some kind of an exhibitionist, deep inside your soul." She shrugged, playfully._

" _I'll go." Klaus informed Stefan, with a quick look toward Damon and Rebekah._

" _It's a celebration! We're going to have a good time tonight, let's celebrate, it's all right! Let's celebrate!" Damon hummed and sang the melody; while awkwardly swinging his body. "What?" He shrugged to the menacing stare of Klaus._

" _Make him stop goofing around; or I'll have his head on my plate for dessert!" Klaus mumbled under clenched teeth; before heading toward Ludvig's standing position._

" _What's your fucking problem, Mikaelson; I'm trying to relax the atmosphere! And what is it now? You are too old to enjoy a classic such as Kool and the Gang, Celebration? It's the fucking 80' for God sake!" Damon stormed toward the Original, before being retained by a firm grip on his left arm by his brother._

" _Are you even serious right now, Damon?" Stefan pushed his brother aside, before stroking his eyelids with annoyance. "What the fuck is going on with you?"_

" _What? Do not tell me you're feeling comfortable in this present setting?" Damon replied, dryly._

" _Well, considering I'm not undressed at the moment, while wearing as only clothes a leather brief, with my legs spread opened… Yah, I don't have to complaint." Stefan mocked his brother, winking at Rebekah._

" _Good one, Salvatore!" Rebekah replied, while retaining the intense urge to burst into laughter._

" _To the both of you: just go fuck yourselves, literally!" Damon frowned, unhappy; both closed fists placed on each side of his hips._

" _You're trying, Damon … It's quite honorable from your part, to bring humor into a tense situation." Maria addressed a smile to the young vampire._

" _Thank you, Maria! I can at least count a sane person in the Mikaelson clan!" Damon commented, with a loud sigh escaping his lips, before glancing from the corner of his eyes at Anastassia who waved her fingers at him, in a mocking gesture._

" _I present you, my flesh and blood, my son_ _ **Nicklaus**_ _!" Petrov raised his glass of champagne in the air, under the respectful clapping sound of the guests. "Come!" The Russian man grabbed Klaus's left elbow, before sliding a glass in his son's hand. "A toast…" Ludvig suggested, killing the noise to only bring a total silence into the room. "I wish my son to reign by my side for centuries to come and beyond eternity. To Nicklaus…" He raised his glass in the air._

" _To Nicklaus…" The guests respectfully replied, before all raised their glasses in the air._

" _What is going on?" Elijah whispered near Stefan's left ear, with a smile being addressed to his mother._

" _Petrov is displaying his "flesh and blood" like a trophy in front of his guests." Stefan shrugged, while raising his glass in the air, playfully._

" _Gosh, Klaus must be fuming inside of himself." Elijah winced, nervously passing his right hand over his face._

" _Well, to say it lightly, yes!" Stefan replied, before grabbing a glass of champagne, from the silver platter of a waiter, only to slide it in Elijah's hand. "Here; drink in honor of your "Russian" brother!" Stefan teased the Original._

" _Not sure that will help or making it worst, though?" Elijah replied, gulping a large amount of the bubbly alcohol, before reaching his mother. "How are you holding up?"_

" _You mean, how am I holding myself together over the fact that Klau's biological father, which I don't recall having an affair with at the moment, is using one of my sons for his own selfish goal?" Maria glared in Elijah's direction. "I'm fine, thank you Elijah." She replied, while returning a smile to him._

" _And to his wonderful mother; a woman who has managed to capture my heart for many centuries… Maria, this is for you! To Maria…" Petrov raised his glass once more, under the obvious disapproval of Klaus._

" _Eww… My heart aches for you, Maria." Damon winced, before whispering the words near her left ear. "But, because you deserve this toast, only for the fact that you are truly an amazing woman; I'll raise my glass to your honor." He commented, before raising his glass in the air._

" _You want to leave? Take a breath of fresh air on the terrace?" Elijah suggested to his mother._

" _I won't leave this room until I know that my son is able to handle this… I mean, handling his father. I've been many things in my life, Elijah, cheater to your father, was obviously one of those things, but, I'm not a coward woman that will leave my children behind me in time of needs." Maria express her feelings, eyes closed, hands joined in front of her chest._

" _Let me return the favor, by thanking you for hosting this evening in my honor, and in my family's and friends' honor. At toast …" Klaus shouted, while raising his glass in the air._

" _Oh this is not good, not good at all!" Rebekah approached Stefan, before sliding her trembling fingers into his right hand, with the young vampire lowering his head to glance at her gesture._

" _Are you holding my hand right now, Rebekah?" Stefan gently teased, while turning his head to look at her._

" _What? I … I did not realize…" She stammered, nervously._

" _I'm not complaining, Bekah." He shook his head, before holding her fingers tightly._

" _To my biological father, who managed to found me after more than a thousand of years on this earth, to you…" Klaus raised his glass in the air, a pernicious smile plastered on his face. "The expression it's never too late to rekindle a relationship is strangely fitting the occasion." He added, dryly._

" _I was afraid of this…" Maria grabbed Elijah's arm, a hand rose over her mouth._

" _May his personal project of killing the vampire species to raise a word of fabricated hybrids reach his wildest dream … To your success, father … To your success Ludvig Petrov!" Klaus shouted as conclusion to his speech, under the dead silence of the assembly; before promptly moving away from the Russian man._

" _Damn I hate it when I have to side with this asshole of Mikaelson!" Damon frowned at Klaus's speech in proudness._

" _Thank you my son!" Petrov finally exclaimed, raising his glass in the air, under the response of his guests. "Now my guests and friends, lets this evening begin, and let the champagne flow like water!" He greeted, before catching up with Klaus, by grabbing his right arm. "Klaus, wait!"_

" _You had to bring my mother into this circus of yours, didn't you?" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; turning on himself to face him, while swallowing the entirety of his glass of champagne down his throat to calm himself down._

" _I'm quite found of your mother; she has been, without a doubt, the love of my very long life." Petrov replied, unwavering. "There are a few…let's say "things" of the past that you couldn't even begin to understand." He gestured nervously with both hands._

" _And it should have stayed buried in the past!" Klaus growled loudly, closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body. "Past or no past, I don't want to have any relationship with you, can I be clearer, or do you want me to spill it out to your face, father?"_

" _No, I can hear you clearly, son; but I don't believe a damn word of what you're saying to me!" Petrov replied, angrily. "We are more alike that you are allowing yourself to believe, Nicklaus… My blood is running into your veins, and that is not something that you can toss aside."_

" _Elijah, please; they will kill each other if you're not finding a way to bring a stop to their heated argument." Maria begged, while witnessing from afar the exchange between Petrov and her son._

" _Don't worry, I'll go!" Elijah kissed her forehead, before heading toward their standing positions._

* * *

_Katerina stared into Mikael's eyes for a few seconds, her body aching with pain of the bad memories of her fall._

" _How dare you?" She mumbled, angrily, between her teeth; closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body, her long fingernails painfully tearing the thin skin of her wrists. "How can you have the audacity to even speak to me, after what you did?" She added with tears of rage filling her eyes._

" _What am I daring, my dear? Greeting my daughter-in-law? Being a polite guest with charming manners?" Mikael narrowed his sight on the brunette._

" _You perfectly know what I'm talking about… You …You were the one who made me fall down the stairs back in Spain." Katerina spitted to the patriarch face._

" _Now, now… No need to raise your voice, where are your manners, Katerina?" Mikael whispered, while grabbing the young vampire's elbow to bring her into an alcove, in setback of prying eyes._

" _Let go of me_ _ **,**_ **рывок** _!" Katerina insulted him in her natal language, pulling her arm away, only to wipe the mark of his fingers by robbing her skin._

" _Is this a way to speak to your father-in-law, young woman?" Mikael growled. "And lower your voice would you, the act of the poor damsel in distress is not suiting you at all, my dear."_

" _You disgust me!" She lashed out to his face._

" _Why, am I so repulsing? It was an accident for God sake! I never intended for you to trip and fall on those stairs!" Mikael replied, dryly._

" _You pushed me down those stairs, you wanted me to die! You never liked the thought of your son sharing his life with a whore such as myself, since the first day we'd met you've done the impossible to erase me from Elijah's life. At least, be man enough to admit it!" Katerina replied, through clenched teeth._

" _You tripped on your stupid high heels shoe that's really how you fell down the stairs." Mikael responded. "And as for not liking you; that's completely beside the point. You should thank the providence for that unfortunate accident. As Elijah's wife you were meant to turn sooner than later, same upcoming faith as your sister Carolina. The difference between you and her is that she is not stupid as to believe the contrary!"_

" _Go to hell! And don't speak about my sister in those terms!" Katerina pointed a forbidden finger toward Mikael's chest._

" _Is there a problem, Mrs. Mikaelson?" They both heard the hoarsely voice addressed itself to her._

" _George…" Katerina closed her eyes to regain her calm, feeling the tips of her fangs painfully spreading from her gums._

" _Do you want me to escort you to the main event; I can easily bring you to "your husband"?" George suggested, reaching out to Katerina, with his opened right palm presented to her, his fiery sight narrowed on Mikael._

" _Yes…" Katerina shook her head. "Thank you." She grabbed his hand like a life buoy._

" _Seriously, George; you'll play your bodyguard routine with me?" Mikael shook his head, while rolling his eyes to the ceiling. "Obviously, "Mrs. Katerina Mikaelson" is not in her normal state, this evening; how can I be blame for it?"_

" _I'm paid to protect your son's family; Mister Mikaelson; no disrespect intended." George grabbed Katerina right arm, before turning on his heels to direct them both toward the corridor._

" _Of course not, your respect is mostly directed toward, my ex-wife, Maria or am I mistaking?" Mikael replied, dryly._

_George startled at the implied, but kept his countenance; while omitting to reply to his say._

" _Come with me, Mrs. Katerina." He suggested, politely; while helping her walk._

* * *

_The intense flow of tears blurred Carolina's vision in the middle of her rapid running pace to find refuge… But find refuge where exactly? Her husband was avoiding her like the plague, and her sister was refusing everything that she had, herself, wanted to become. Petrov's house was filled with guests, and she had to seep in through a large crowd of invitees to reach the opened terrace of the ground floor._

_Her hands finally grabbed the guardrail, and it's with a sight of reliefs that she managed to take a few deep breaths of fresh air inside her lungs, while finally releasing her sadness and tears from her broken heart._

" _I believe I've died and finally reached heaven!" She heard a male exclaim enthusiastically. "But such beauty shouldn't shed a tear; who is the responsible fellow; I shall kill him on the spot!"_

_The young Russian turned on herself to face her interlocutor._

" _And why would you do that for me?" Carolina asked, unafraid, with raised chin._

" _Essentially for your beauty, of course my dear; you're simply radiant." The blond, curly hair man smiled along his say, hands buried in his pants pocket. "Now if you could reassure my beating – raising heart that you're single, I would gladly appreciate it?" He took a few extra steps to reach her standing position, before sniffing her neck. "Human how unexpected, one of Petrov's escorts, I suppose?" He raised an eyebrow, surprised._

_Was she single? No, no … She was married, right? Or was she really? Klaus had mentioned that their marriage meant nothing to him after all? Carolina subtly pulled on her wedding ring, before slowly hiding the said piece of jewelry behind her back._

" _I'm single and also a guest." She replied, all smile; while presenting her right hand._

" _You don't say, how unexpected of you?" The stranger grinned, before hand-kissing the back of her hand._

" _Why there are none human being allowed in Petrov's party?" Caroline raised an eyebrow._

" _Oh no, there are quite a few of them; it was an honest mistake of my part." The young man raised his right hand over his chest. "But, where are my manners, I'm Vittorio; please to meet you … Miss?"_

" _Carolina…" She responded, still on her guards._

" _It's just Carolina, no last name, how simply original." He winked, charmer._

" _It's just Vittorio, no last name, how simply original." She replied, tit for tat; a smile raising both corners of her pink lips._

_The young man titled his head toward the back, before bursting into laughter._

" _Oh, I like you, I like you…I like you, Miss Carolina without a last name." He exclaimed, smiling; while waving a finger underneath her nose._

" _You're a vampire… I mean a hybrid?" Carolina asked, curious. At least this interlude had the benefit of making her forget about Klaus. As for Vittorio, her charming, spirited interlocutor, she wasn't entirely sure that his personal flirting taste was entirely directed to women to this point?_

" _What gave you that idea? No, I'm a warlock, actually." He winked; amused. "I'm with a few of my male friends who would be please to meet a lovely lady such as yourself, would you care to accompany me to the main event?" He presented his left arm to her._

_Carolina swallowed a lump in her throat, before discreetly scattering her surroundings. What would Klaus think if he would find her in company of several single men?_

" _Certainly, I would be pleased to accompany you." She smiled, while sliding her arm over Vittorio's. "And … I would be pleased to meet all your friends."_

" _You know, you're the first woman in a long time that attracted my attention, my dear." He whispered near her right ear._

" _And why is that, Vittorio?" Carolina asked, while trying to hide her smile._

" _Well, simply for the fact that I love to embellish my love life with both flavours, if you see what I mean?" He responded, while raising both eyebrows, up and down, playfully. "I hope you're not shock by my willingness to share my … personal tendencies?"_

" _Not the least." Carolina replied, a smile spreading from ear to ear._

" _And I can assure you that all my male friends are only attracted to such lovely creatures as yourself." He reassured her._

" _Well, I can hardly wait to meet them all." She replied, while holding her wedding ring in her closed left fist._

_After all Klaus has specifically mentioned that he was not interested anymore as to maintain a relationship with her, right? She would soon be free of her engagement to him? So what was stopping her to experiment life?_

* * *

" _May I break this interesting exchange?" Elijah approached them, hands buried in his tuxedo pants, in a debonair way; before facing both men who were eyeing each other, with bulging torsos._

" _Certainly…" Petrov backed away the first, while pulling on his burgundy velvet outfits. "Elijah Mikaelson, if I'm not mistaking?" The Russian man presented his right hand._

" _You presumed right, though, considering that my entire family is staying inside your walls as prisoners, it wasn't so hard for you to guess; wasn't it?" Elijah, reluctantly, shook Petrov's hand._

" _Prisoners, it's such a stretch, would you say?" Petrov tilted his head, amused. "So; "Elijah", aren't you the classic old-style vampire of the Mikaelson's clan, with the James Bond complex, as well as the charm, as I've heard, of course." He added, teaser._

" _I wasn't aware that I was compared to James Bond, should I feel blessed of receiving such compliment?" Elijah wondered out loud, a forced smirk raising the right corner of his lips; while glancing at Klaus who was stomping both feet on the marble floor with annoyance._

" _You take it as you wish, my dear friend." Petrov replied, smiling. "But, maybe you should keep a closer eye to what the supernatural world is whispering behind your back?" He added, winking._

* * *

" _So, beautiful Carolina, Vittorio has told us that you are human?" One of Vittorio friends, a very dashing Italian vampire, asked her; while sliding his fiery sight on the length of her body. Obviously, he was appreciating what he was seeing in front of his sight, and the proof of that were his fangs lengthening in his mouth._

" _What?" She suddenly managed to move her sight away from the exchange happening at the other side of the room, between Klaus, Elijah and Petrov._

_Carolina had followed Vittorio inside the majestic room, where champagne and appetizers were presented to the guests; to finally meet his friends who were more than happy to entertain her, in hope of sharing a more intimate moment with this intriguing human, later in the evening. After realizing that none of the men had really captured her attention like Klaus would, she had finally noticed the heated argument between her husband and their host._

" _You seem miles away, Carolina; what is troubling your mind so much?" Vittorio approached her, before sliding his left arm around her shoulders._

" _What, no … No; I'm fine… I'm just a bit distracted." She stammered through her answer; a faked smile plastered on her face._

" _Well; it's nothing that a glass of champagne wouldn't cure, obviously." Vittorio grabbed one, before handing it to Carolina. "So, what do you think of Petrov's biological son – He's not bad to the eyes, is he?"_

" _I guess if you like his type?" She shrugged, innocently, redness reaching her face._

_Carolina was playing with fire, and she knew it all too well!_

* * *

" _I'm not really reading the gossips column of the supernatural tabloids, I must say." Elijah winced, disdainfully._

" _Proud and arrogant like your father, I actually see a lot of Mikael in you, if I may be sincere, myself." Petrov leaned his head back, before bursting into loud laughter._

" _You should find your wife, you left her unintended if I am not mistaking?" Elijah whispered to Klaus, under Ludvig's eagle eyes and opened ears._

" _She's fine." Klaus brushed the suggestion off, with a hand gesture. "She doesn't need me glued to her baskets, Elijah!"_

" _She is more than fine apparently." Ludvig commented, frowning; while suddenly narrowing his sight on the young woman; who stood on the opposite side of the large room, encircled with a bunch of admirers. "If this is the way you're keeping your wife glued to your baskets, you're obviously doing something wrong, son?"_

_Elijah and Klaus turned on their heels, before catching a glimpse of the seduction scene between Carolina and a few dashing men._

" _Go!" Elijah waved his hand; with Klaus rushing toward his wife, like a wild beast._

" _Strange behaviors for newlyweds would you say?" Petrov commented, abruptly; the nerve of his right cheek twitching. Damn! This was not unfolding according to his plan. "This said, maybe instead of concentring your energy into my son love life, you should keep a close eye on your own wife?" The Russian man added, while nodding toward the bar. "I'm very fond of Katerina, we had the chance to exchange in the past; but it seems her transition as a vampire is running its course with a few bumps on the road?"_

_Elijah turned his head toward the bar, before catching a glimpse of his wife, obviously transforming into her vampire self with a glass of vodka in her hands._

" _Instead on concentring your energy on my family's personal life, you should simply butt-out while you still can." Elijah replied, dryly. "Please, if you would excuse-me?" He added, before heading toward the bar._

* * *

" _Ah Carolina, what a breath of fresh air you are!" One of Vittorio friend exclaimed, under the general laughter sound of his friend._

" _Isn't she the loveliest think you ever saw?" Vittorio commented, his left arm sliding around Carolina's waist._

_In the time space of a few seconds, the warlock was pushed on the wall, elevated in the air, with a firm hand cutting all air in his lungs, with his feet spreading in all directions._

" _You touch her one more time; and I'll cut your head off your neck!" Klaus warned Vittorio; maintaining the pressure on the man's throat. "And your balls will be given to wolves, am I clear?"_

" _Oh my God… Klaus; let him go!" Carolina exclaimed, in shock; while pulling with all her strength on the hybrid arm retaining her new friend prisoner of his grip of steel._

_Klaus grabbed Carolina wrist; before pushing the young woman away, her body landing on the wall behind her back._

" _To all this may concern … If one of you has the audacity to even lay an eye on_ _ **"my wife"**_ _; just be prepared to meet your dying faith!" Klaus warned, growling loudly; all eyes now turned in his direction._

" _Please, let him go … You're killing him!" Carolina begged, tears filling her eyes. "You're a beast, Klaus Mikaelson, you … You have the audacity to judge your biological father, but you're no better than him … You're actually worse!" She lashed out._

" _Someone wants to claim my wife as his, if so, do it now!" Klaus scattered the male assembly, who stepped a few feet away from the scene, while shaking their heads in negation._

* * *

" _If one ever had doubts, this is one more proof that this man is your biological son." Alexay whispered to Petrov; approaching his standing position._

" _He got my fire, that can't be denied." Petrov whispered to his right hand man; arms crossed over his muscular chest, smile spreading on his lips. "I was worried for a split second of problems bigger than what we firstly thought, that could have been hiding between him and his wife, but not anymore…So much passion can only bring them in the same bed!"_

" _Well, nothing but a good display of authority to clarify who her husband is, I suppose." Alexay smirked. "By the way the dinner will be served in a few minutes."_

" _Perfect timing, I suppose." Ludvig shrugged, highly amused by the scene._

* * *

" _For God sake, Michaelson let him go!" Stefan grabbed Klaus's both arms; by placing himself behind the hybrid; while Damon tried to release the grip on Vittorio's neck. "Let him go I've said!" He repeated._

_Klaus finally released his grip on the poor soul, dropping the warlock's body on his feet, under his loud coughing sounds._

" _Don't put your nose in my personal affairs, Salvatore!" Klaus pointed a forbidden finger toward his friend._

" _Calm down man, ok?" Stefan placed both of his opened palms in front of Klaus. "You're acting irrationally at the moment."_

" _Are you ok?" Damon helped Vittorio getting back on his feet._

" _Well, I'll live I suppose?" Vittorio responded, while rubbing his throat, only to stumble on his weak legs. "And what a mighty sight you are, mister?" He added, his fiery sight sliding on the length of Damon's body._

" _Salvatore… Damon Salvatore." Damon replied, wincing; while taking a few steps back. Obviously the said victim saw something he liked in the young vampire._

" _Well, very pleased to meet you Damon Salvatore." Vittorio smirked._

" _Oh my god, are you ok, Vittorio?" Anastassia rushed toward the young warlock, before passing her right arm around his waist to help him stand on both legs._

" _I'll live, my beauty." Vittorio replied, still eyeing Damon. "I've just met your boy-toy; very delicious if I may say."_

" _Oh you got to be kidding me?" Damon winced, rolling his eyes to the ceiling, both hands placed on each side of his waist. "Did you inform all Russia of our time together, Anastassia, for God sake?" He addressed the issue to the red head vampire._

" _Come, I'll help you reach the table, dinner is about to be served." Anastassia helped her friend, while disregarding Damon's say. "Forget about my half-brother, he's an asshole!" She lashed out to Klaus's face, while passing by his and Stefan's side._

" _Are you ok now?" Stefan asked Klaus._

_The hybrid pushed his friend aside, before grabbing Carolina's left hand._

" _Where's your wedding ring?" He asked, unceremoniously; while twisting her left wrist to take a look at her empty finger._

" _What is it to you, anyway? It's not like that ring means something to this point." Carolina furiously pulled her hand away, while lashing out to his face, with her present state of rage showing on her burning cheeks._

" _Don't push me to a point of no return, Carolina… Where's your damn wedding ring!" He repeated, angrily, his fiery sight locked in hers; the marble floor suddenly trembling underneath the guests' feet, with the echo of his loud and ordering voice._

" _Go fuck yourself … And here, take your, fucking, wedding ring with you!" Carolina lashed out, throwing the piece of jewelry to his face, before turning on her heels to run toward the exit of the room._

_Under the speechless expressions of the entire crowd of guests, and in the time space of a few seconds, the hybrid promptly kneeled on the floor to pick-up the ring, jumped back on his legs, only to grab his wife's right arm to pull her back near his chest._

" _Give me your left hand!" He ordered, while forcefully pushing the ring back on her finger. "You belong to me!"_

" _I hate you!" She raised her closed fists to hit his chest, tears rolling on her cheeks._

_Unfortunately her vain attempt to free herself died the moment she felt her body being raised in both of his arms._

" _Put me down!" Carolina lashed out, her nails viciously scratching the back of his neck._

" _If someone wants to claim this woman as his in the next hours, he may be prepared to die, and this is not an empty threat!" Klaus warned, one last time; before striding rapidly toward the exit of the room._

" _Fuck! He completely lost it!" Stefan commented, mouth opened; passing a shaking hand over his face._

" _What did just happen? Why would he do that to Carolina?" Rebekah commented, frozen on spot._

" _I don't know, he's … He's lost, I suppose." Stefan shrugged, unhelpful._

" _Are you ok?" George reached Maria's standing position, his soft hands landing on her shoulders._

" _Yes, I'll be fine … And Klaus and Carolina will be fine too; it's just … It's just too much for all of us, in such a short period of time." She tried to convinced herself._

* * *

_Bonnie and Kol sat in silence, in the train bringing them to the nearest airport, near Rome. They had left the hidden underground of the Vatican a few hours ago, and were on their way to Russia, final destination: Ludvig Petrov's mansion!_

_Kol turned his sight toward the window, his mind in effervescence of all he had learned from the witches about the upcoming war between the church and the supernatural world._

_Bonnie scattered the wagon, her view on the lookout of the final remaining passenger who suddenly stepped out at the next stop._

" _We are alone." She informed him._

" _No kidding, darling." Kol sighed loudly. "We are alone against an entire church sorority of priests who want us all dead!"_

" _No, I meant we are alone in the waggon." She rectified, while getting rid of her army jacket._

" _Oh…" Kol turned his head to take a quick look; mostly indifferent. "Gosh, we need to get to Russia, the sooner the better!" The youngest of the Originals brother stroke his eyelids._

" _Agree… But, in the meantime…" Bonnie replied, while passing her shirt above her head, only to sit in her black lace bra._

" _What in hell, Bennett?" Kol opened his eyes widely, in shock; while straightening his sitting position on his seat._

" _Well, obviously you're the only man available, once again!" Bonnie rolled her eyes, before stepping over his legs to sit on Kol's lap. "So, you'll have to do!" The brunette bombshell shrugged, while grabbing the Original's hands before placing them on her breasts. "So, do your thing!"_

" _Is this like an alternate universe that I've drifted into?" Kol wondered to himself, his eyes spreading in all directions. "Are you playing with me again?" He narrowed his sight on the witch, chin raised._

" _You're squeezing my breasts right now, and you think I'm playing with you?" Bonnie arched an eyebrow._

" _Well, it's normal reflex for a man to squeeze soft "things" like those." Kol winked; his fingers softly tracing the lace of Bonnie's bra. "Is it because of the boyfriend thing back at the Vatican?" He asked, straight to the point._

" _No." Bonnie shook her head, redness reaching both cheeks. "I'm …" She stopped, eyes closed; while nervously passing a hand through her tangled hair._

" _What is it, Bonnie?" Kol asked, his right hand softly caressing her cheeks._

" _I… I have this unshakeable feeling that I'll die." Bonnie replied, a lump forming in her throat. "That this all war between species and the church will be the dead of me." She added. "And I don't want to die before feeling something, if only for the next fifteen minutes."_

" _What… No, no … Not on my watch, don't you say that!" Kol shook his head, while grabbing the woman's chin. "Look at me! We'll fight this, ok?"_

" _Ok…" She finally agreed, a timid smile spreading on her lips._

" _Now, as for your tempting offer, Miss Bennett…" He acknowledged, his hands grapping her waist, with his lips slowly sliding from her deep cleavage, to the right side of her neck._

" _Mm…" Bonnie moaned, with a range of pleasure spreading in intense fire in her entire body._

" _I don't rush when I make love to a woman, such as yourself; it takes me way more than fifteen minutes. I like to satisfy her needs … All … Nigh … Long…" Kol mouthed the words in top of her trembling lips, before unexpectedly dropping her back to her seat. "Now, be a good girl and dress yourself, we'll be at the airport in a few minutes." He added, before throwing her shirt on her head, over her speechless and bothered expression._

* * *

_Klaus had kept a stoic expression plastered on his face, his fast pace leading him into the empty corridor. This said path finally came to a stop in front of a study room, soon filled with their only presence; his right foot slamming the door close behind their backs, a few seconds after._

" _Putt me down, asshole!" Carolina yelled, from the top of her lungs, hitting, scratching; fighting with her closed fists, hands, and nails._

" _My pleasure, Love!" He responded, the nerve of his left cheek twitching under his strict restrain, before letting Carolina's body fall on an armchair._

" _Oh god, you're a monster!" She exclaimed, under the rough impact of her butt hitting the hard leather, standing on her legs a second later, with a finger pointed toward his chest._

" _It's only now that you just figured this out, sweetheart?" He lowered his upper body near hers, both closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _No, I always knew…" She kept her sight locked with his, making Klaus swallow a lump in his throat and start under the offensive implied. "But I thought you had at least an ounce of decency left in you."_

" _And yet, not a few hours ago, you were begging to share the bed of the said monster?" Klaus replied, perniciously, with the intention to hurt her in the root of her soul. "You were begging to be turned by me, to drink my blood, while I would drink yours? Or did I mistake all of desire?"_

" _What a mistake it was, indeed!" She managed to let the words out of her lips, under the strong tremors perceived in her voice, with tears filling her eyes._

" _You're mine, Carolina; all mine … Until I'll decide otherwise!" Klaus busted to her face. "Don't ever undermine my authority on this simple fact!"_

" _I don't want to hear this; I don't even want to be in the same room as you anymore!" She turned on herself, reaching the handle, only to be projected on the opposite wall, his hard and tensed body pushing on hers._

" _Let me go…" She swallowed a lump in her throat, a mix of fear and desire spreading into her veins._

" _Do you have any idea what I felt when I saw all these men glancing at you, like you were their possession to take?" He growled, his right hand grabbing her chin to drown his sight in Carolina's. "I thought I would rip their hearts out of their chests!"_

" _It's… It's not because I've agreed to be your wife, that I'm your possession, Klaus; it… It doesn't work that way." Carolina stammered through her sentence and blurred mind, heat spreading everywhere in her body, over his sensual touch and say._

" _All of you, it's mine, Love… Your beautiful face…" Klaus softly trailed his fingers over Carolina's features, his head leaning near her neck, with his lips sliding on the vein pumping her delicious blood. "Your soft skin…" He added, leaving a trail of fire down the neckline of Carolina's dress._

" _No…" She shook her head, contradicting her say by pushing his head in a nearer proximity of her skin._

" _Your delightful breasts …" Klaus continued his enumeration, cupping; before biting her erected nipples through the fabric. "All of this is mine!"_

" _Klaus… We can't do this…" She titled her head toward the back to grant him a better access to her burning flesh._

" _Here you are! Children, dinner is being served!" Petrov's strong voice and the loud sound of the doors being slammed on their arches, made them start and detach themselves from their burning embrace._

_Carolina pulled herself together, while promptly pulling on the fabric of her evening dress to make a presentable appearance._

" _Come, everybody is waiting for my guest of honor to be present at the banquet!" Ludvic added, while reaching their standing positions, before pushing them toward the exit of the study room._

* * *

" _Don't say a word…" Katerina murmured to the waiter, her eyes locked with his, under her first vampire compulsion. "You'll follow me into the dark corner, just there, and let me do whatever I want with you, ok?" She could already feel the sweet taste of his blood in her throat._

" _Katerina!" She startled at the call of her name…With a timber that could only belong to a single man!_

" _Elijah?" She turned on herself; haggard red eyes, fangs out, right hand rose over her chest._

" _Look at me!" The Original ordered, cupping her delicate face with both hands. "You're on the verge of having no control over yourself, aren't you?" Elijah commented, under a loud sight, before raising his sight on the waiter, his eyes locked with the young man's. "You'll forget about everything that just happened here." He ordered him, under his powerful compulsion; before suddenly turning his head on the left to catch a glimpse of his father entering the crowded room._

_Mikael nodded once, before avoiding his son's stare, directing his walk toward the other side of the room._

" _What happened? It's my father, isn't it? Katerina talk to me?" He gently shook her shoulders._

" _Don't speak your father's name to me." The brunette mumbled, angrily; between her teeth. "I mean, I just don't like him very much." She tried to rectify her say._

" _I'm sorry, I've lost track of her for a split second." George commented, while reaching their standing positions near the bar. "Mrs. Mikaelson, I've told you to stay by my side." The body guard scolded the young vampire lady, politely._

" _I didn't know I was on a leash?" Katerina replied, in a drier tone than expected._

" _That is not what I meant, Mrs Mikaelson, and you know it." George replied, apologetically._

" _For God sake, George, give me some kind of explanation?" Elijah growled, unhappy._

" _Well… I just found your wife and your father in a heated conversation." George replied, while locking his sight with his boss's wife._

" _Don't…" Katerina shook her head._

" _What kind of conversation?" Elijah pushed the issue._

" _I just heard snatches of their conversation…. I don't know…" George tried to avoid the unavoidable; while turning his head to the right._

" _You heard snatches of their conversation, about what?" Elijah ordered his right arm man to answer, unwavering._

" _Elijah, let go of me!" Katerina squirmed to free herself. Elijah's left arm kept the young woman close to his chest, while firmly holding both of his wife's wrists prisoner in her back._

" _I think somewhere inside of yourself, you already know, boss." George lowered his head, shamefully… Shameful of how much of a coward Mikael Mikaelson has been toward his own son._

" _I don't know what he's talking about but…" Katerina tried to cut the conversation short._

" _Did my father do something to you, did he?" Elijah ordered his wife to answer, nerves of his left cheek twitching under the rage building inside of his mind._

" _Let go of me, or I'll scream my head off and make a scene like you've never seen before." Katerina mumbled, angrily; between her teeth._

" _Come, and don't fight me on this, woman; or I'll have no problem carrying you over my shoulders, in front of all these people, scream or no scream!" Elijah ordered, while pulling the brunette on his heels._

* * *

_Elijah pushed Katerina in one of the empty parlour rooms; before angrily closing the door behind his back._

" _Talk to me!" He ordered, before pacing back and forth on the length of the Persian rug, both hands firmly placed on each side of his waist._

" _I don't want to talk to you, I have nothing to say! And … You shouldn't listen to everything George is saying to you." She raised her head, confrontational. "But I need blood, please… I beg of you; give me your blood, Elijah?"_

" _Not before you speak the truth to your husband!" Elijah pointed a forbidden finger toward his wife. "It's me, Katerina …. It's me, the man you've married, the man you should come to when in need, for God sake!"_

" _Would it be more accurate to say: the man who had bought me?" Katerina lashed out to his face, in an attempt of bifurcate the conversation, far away from the truth!_

" _Oh don't you even go there, woman!" Elijah busted, furiously. "I know you more than you could even know yourself, Katerina; you're trying to hide something from me… Look at me, for God sake!" He ordered, dryly; both hands forcefully cupping the brunette face while forcing her to raise he sight in his. "You're trembling, you're fighting your demons into a transition to vampirism, and you've compelled a human for the first time… I want you to confide in me, please, confide in me … Tell me, I beg of you… Tell me what George heard you discuss with my father? I need to hear it from your own lips?"_

" _There's nothing to say…" She replied, with a trembling voice; while swallowing a lump in her throat. "I'm fine… You've …. You've told me yourself that… That, this would happen… That, I would experience problems with my human behaviors and my personality would change… Why Elijah? Why would you push this issue?" She stammered, agitated; with tears filling her eyes. "I just … I just need blood, please… That is why I've compelled the waiter, because … I felt this forbidden urge inside of me, you should understand?"_

" _I'm not an idiot, Katerina; I can feel this had nothing to do with your transition as a vampire, and everything to do with my father. Something is obviously eating you alive inside of your soul." He kept both hands firmly placed on each side of her face. "What I can only hope as last salvation, is that what my guts are telling me as the truth is actually not." He added, hoarsely._

_Katerina suddenly closed her eyes, not able to hold his glance, tears now rolling freely on her cheeks._

" _I can't… I can't …" She shook her head, her body left under a range of intense compulsions._

_Elijah pulled her frail silhouette into the comfort of his arms, before softly brushing her hair in a comforting gesture._

" _Oh Katerina… You've suffered so much since you've agreed to marry me; but believe me when I say that I want to protect you in all costs necessary to make you safe. I know that you'd always protected your sister, but grant me the chance to be your savoir, would you?" He tried to appease her sobbing. "My father pushed you down the stairs back in Spain, did he? I was a fool to not realize it sooner" He asked, with a softer tone of voice than the rage that was boiling inside of his mind. "He's the one responsible for your accident, isn't he?" He added, under clenched teeth._

" _Yes…" She managed to let the single word escape her trembling lips, head resting on his chest, while her sobbing and tremors intensified._

" _It's ok, beautiful…I'm here now… Shush!" Elijah raised his left wrist to his mouth, only to rip his skin open; before bringing the opened wound to Katerina's mouth; who drank his blood, greedily. "Don't worry, I'll make things ok, I won't let you down ever again." He softly kissed her forehead to appease her sadness and worries._

* * *

" _Tell me why you are cowardly running away, Rebekah?" Stefan walked behind the Original's hells, hands buried in his tuxedo pants. "It's not like you?"_

" _Like you need to ask?" Rebekah responded, agitated; a single tears rolling on her left cheek._

" _Stop, would you?" Stefan grabbed Rebekah's right arm, promptly pushing her into a dark alcove of the random corridor she had chosen to escape._

" _Let me go, Salvatore!" She pulled her arm away from his firm grip._

" _Dinner is being served, and Petrov won't see it lightly if we don't show up, did you think of that?" He scolded the blonde woman like a six years old._

" _Since when are you my guardian, Stefan, I do as I please, you hear me? I give a fuck about Klaus's biological father; and I hate his want-to-be half-sister! What kind of a name is that anyway, Anastassia?" She stormed out of her system, nervously gesturing with both hands. "And I hate that ass of brother that I have, only for the spectacle he just gave in front of all the guests lashing out at Carolina!"_

" _Ok, come here, would you?" Stefan pulled the reluctant woman into the comfort of his arms. "Now, just breathe, and relax, ok?"_

" _You think I can relax while standing in your arms this way?" Rebekah replied, sneezing loudly, with her head comfortably leaning on his right shoulder._

" _Well, am I so bad at comforting you?" He smiled while softly caressing her long blond strands._

" _It could be worse, I guess?" She shrugged, a timid smile raising both corners of her lips._

" _Now, as for Petrov we can't do much about this all situation; we basically need to suck-it-up and endure this dinner, would you agree?" Stefan asked, his chin resting on top of Rebekah's head._

" _I guess…" She approved, shrugging once more._

" _As for Klaus's half-bombshell-red-head-sister…" He started, teaser._

" _Were you obligated to mention the bombshell part?" Rebekah mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _Can I reassure you by saying that I prefer blondes?" He teased more._

" _Well, I think it's good that you have such good taste." She added, playfully. "I wouldn't say the same to your brother."_

" _And finally, as for your ass of a brother, my dear friend Nicklaus… He's in love, Bekah… Madly in love with this young human girl and, you have to admit that he is not the type to act properly in his normal state of mind, can you imagine under Carolina's spell?" Stefan added._

" _Fine, you win…This time!" She raised her head to detach herself from the comfort of his shoulder, before slowly raising her sight in the one of the vampire._

" _What would you say if we both join the circus now?" Stefan suggested, winking._

" _As long that you put in your thick skull, Salvatore, that "this"; what just happened between us, doesn't mean I'll be in your bed tonight?" Rebekah raised her chin at her own say, before turning on her heels while balancing her delightful behind in front of Stefan's sight, leading her steps in direction of the dining room._

" _What, of course not, Rebekah, I wouldn't dream of it!" Stefan replied, while crossing two of his fingers behind his back, a rictus raising the right side of his lips._

* * *

_The dining room of Petrov's mansion was a mix of medieval style with modern undertones. Ten imposing, rustic long tables were placed in two set of rows, with long runaways and flowers centers displayed on each one of them. Long, red velvet panels of curtains decorated the windows, with ancestral swords placed on the walls._

" _My guests, it's time to eat!" Petrov exclaimed, loudly. "Bon apétit …_ _Приятного аппетита_ _… Enjoy your meal!" He greeted, with a glass of red wine raised in his right hand, under the loud clapping of appreciation. "What are you waiting for? Sit!"_

_The Mikaelson clan (with friends) were standing in front of their respective chairs, not sure of how to proceed next._

" _What? I promise you, neither the wine nor the blood was poisoned by my hands tonight." Petrov winked to the guests who decided to sit at the table against all odds._

" _Well, still … We're worried of being chained to the table or to the chairs?" Damon shrugged, playfully. "The idea would certainly fit the décor?" He added, wincing._

" _I won't stay longer than necessary; do you hear me, Salvatore?" Rebekah murmured to Stefan._

" _If you think that I want to have a nightcap with Petrov after this dinner, you're sadly mistaking." Stefan replied, teaser; while pulling a chair to help the Original sit._

" _You, my dear Damon, you're worried of being restrained, really?" Petrov responded to the young vampire, with a raised eyebrow and a smirk._

" _Did you tell the entire Russia, for God sake?" Damon whispered to the red head bombshell, his sight narrowed on Anastassia who took a siting place in front of his own, with Vittorio standing by her side._

" _It's you who, so openly, displayed yourself on my bed, not me." She shrugged, indifferent; before placing a napkin on her lap._

" _Oh my dear, be kind to him… He's way too pleasant to the eyes to be mocked that way." Vittorio winked at Damon; while taking his own sitting place._

_Anastassia grabbed her glass of wine, her painted nails displayed as claws, her lustrous lips touching the red alcohol; while her fiery sight met with the vampire's, with the tip of her right foot slowly rising from Damon's left calf to his crotch area._

" _Stop this!" Damon growled in an almost unperceivable whisper, while pushing her foot away._

" _Why?" She giggled in her glass, in a more innocent way than her present action would suppose. "You don't like?"_

" _Because… People could see us!" Damon mouthed the words on his parted lips._

" _Who cares?" She shrugged, winking, playfully; while raising her foot back on Damon's lap._

" _Klaus, Carolina… Come sit at my left, near me; would you please?" Petrov pointed toward two seats, near the right end of the table._

" _It's a suggestion or an order?" Klaus glanced toward his biological father, with a narrowed sight._

" _Klaus…You're giving me so little credit?" Ludvig sighed, loudly; his eyes rolling to the ceiling. "Aren't you the guest of honor after all?" Petrov reminded him. "It's a simple invitation, son." He rectified his own say._

_Klaus forcefully pulled Carolina, on his heels; while holding her left hand in his, fingers tightly interlaced with hers._

" _Sit!" Klaus ordered his wife in a low whisper, before pulling a chair. ''And you're not disappearing from my sight the entire evening, am I clear?"_

" _I'm not sitting beside you!" She whispered, angrily, between clenched teeth. "I'll sit with my sister!" She pulled her hand away; only to be retained this time by her waist._

" _You'll sit on the chair or on my lap while I'll feed you food with a spoon in front of all the guests, you damn choice, Love?" He growled unhappy._

" _I hate you!" Carolina mumbled, angrily; between her teeth; before reluctantly sitting on the medieval chair he pulled for her._

" _Young love, aren't they adorable?" Petrov commented to Mikael._

" _I couldn't say, you stole my wife when I was young and in love, remember?" Mikael commented, perniciously._

" _Awww… Mikael, Mikael…Is this one of your weak attempts at humor?" Petrov grinned, with amusement. "My dear, come sit by my side." Ludvic invited Maria to join him, with a hand gesture._

" _You can sit wherever you want, Maria; he has no right to boss you around." George leaned his head near the patriarch woman, discreetly whispering the words near her right ear._

" _Unfortunately George, I don't have any other choices." Maria replied, while addressing a timid smile to the bodyguard._

" _You always have a free choice, Maria; please, never forget that." He returned her smile, while following closely on her steps toward Petrov's position, before leaning his back on the wall, crossed hands in front of his chest. He would watch her like a falcon if needed!_

" _You want to ask your … I mean, that man to join us at the table?" Petrov proposed to Maria, good player. "In which way you would present your son's bodyguard, Mikael?" Petrov teased._

" _George…. His name is George, and he's her new lover, I suppose?" Mikael responded, tit for tat; while shrugging._

" _Well, my dear you'll have all your men near you tonight: you ex-husband, your ex-lover, and your new one; why would a woman ask for more?" Petrov added, grinning. "Mister George you want to join us?"_

_George narrowed his fiery sight on the host, his face keeping a blank canvas of the rage that was really boiling inside of him. But, between two evils, he finally decided that he'd preferred to sit near Maria; as additional protection._

_Petrov gestured his left hand toward the chair to Elijah's right arm man, before pulling the chair to help Maria take her sitting position._

" _There, now I can glance at your beauty, my dear. Isn't she looking lovely tonight, Mikael?" Petrov asked the Original._

" _I don't know? She's my ex-wife, and obviously not of my concerns anymore." Mikael shrugged, playing the indifferent card; when in reality his right fist was hitching to hit both men._

" _Can you believe, my dear, that your ex-husband kept a grudge on me, all these years? But, maybe we're burdening you with our tasteless ways to entertain?" He addressed the issue to Maria, who close her eyes with a loud sight escaping her lips._

" _Weren't you both Vikings in a far past, both warriors and none civil men who would stupidly fight each other to prove your virility?" Maria mumbled, angrily, between her teeth. "You probably made a bet of which of the two peed the farthest?"_

" _Who've said that we stopped being Vikings?" Petrov let out a loud laugh escape his manly lips. "Mikael, did we stop being Vikings? We dress in a more fashionable and modern way, I give you that, but in our heart we are still beasts, my dear … Ingrid… I mean Maria."_

" _We did not stop, not that I know of, did we?" Mikael responded, a smirk spreading on his face._

" _Please forgive us, for the late arrival." Elijah nodded, politely to their host, while pulling a chair to help Katerina sit by his side._

" _Elijah and the lovely Katerina, please sit at the opposite end of the table from me, like a leader would do." Petrov gestured toward the empty seat at the end of the table._

" _It's not my place to seat at the opposite side of you, Petrov." Elijah replied, under clenched teeth._

" _I beg the difference, please do, I insist!" Ludvig nodded toward Elijah._

_Elijah pushed Katerina's chair underneath the imposing table, before lowering his upper body near hers._

" _I won't allow my father to infiltrate your mind; he doesn't deserve a second of your time or the pain that is eating you alive inside your soul at the moment." Elijah whispered near her left ear, while noticing the intense glance passing between his wife and the patriarch of the Mikaelson. "I'll take care of him, Katerina; he won't ever have the chance to hurt you again." He added, gently brushing her forehead of a chaste kiss, before pulling his own chair to seat at the opposite side of their host. "I'll do as you wish, Petrov, after all you're the host." Elijah commented, gracefully; grabbing the red napkin with his hands._

" _Mikael, aren't you proud of your daughter-in-law? Isn't she a beautiful woman? Your son Elijah couldn't have chosen a more fitting wife, would you say?" Petrov commented, politely; before turning his head toward Alexay who had suddenly appeared by his side. "Ah! Alexay … Please, take a seat with us!"_

" _If by fitting you mean: a want-to-be escort who jumped on the opportunity to latch her claws on a rich man, I guess." Mikael replied, shrugging._

" _Fuck you father!" Elijah sprang on his legs, a forbidden finger pointed toward the said called. "Present your apologies to my wife now, or I swear you'll want to forget the day I was born!"_

" _Elijah, please, sit down … Don't make a scene, please, for me?" Katerina raised on her legs, begging; a hand resting on his tensed right arm._

" _Are you shallow to the point of judging a woman harshly as to her ways to make ends-meet to take care of her own sister in a country where poverty is oftentimes met, Mikael?" Petrov growled, unhappy._

" _I guess not…" Mikael lowered his head, a nerve twitching in his left cheek. "I'm sorry, Katerina; please accept my deepest apologies for my misstep."_

_Katerina nodded, disdainfully at the Original; while pulling Elijah to take back his sitting position as she did herself._

" _I guess, once an asshole, always an asshole!" Klaus commented, wincing; before gulping the entirety of the glass of wine he was holding under his tensed knuckles._

" _Did you say something, Nicklaus?" Mikael stared at his own glass, both lips forming a thin line._

" _Yes, that you've always been an ass and will always be one!" Klaus growled, loudly, pushing on his chair to rise on both legs, while Mikael reacted the same way at the upcoming menace, with both George and Alexay ready to spread in their directions if needed._

" _Klaus, sit down now!" Petrov lashed out the order, sharply._

_Both Mikael and the hybrid glanced at each other, closed fists placed on each side of their tensed bodies._

" _Klaus, please, sit down near your wife?" Maria begged her son to reconsider._

_The hybrid sat back on his chair, before swallowing a lump and his dignity back in his throat._

" _Well, I presume that so much testosterone in one single room will trigger such bad reactions in men?" Petrov commented, mocker. "You'll have to forgive our bad manners, ladies." He nodded, apologetically. "You are hardly saying a word, my dear? Is this beautiful daughter of yours, deaf and silenced, perhaps?" Ludvig commented to Mikael, his sight fixated on Rebekah._

" _The thought of my daughter being one or the other of your say, is actually the most hilarious thing you've said until now, Petrov." Mikael grabbed a golden pitcher, only to pour himself another glass of wine. Obviously he would need more alcohol to endure this torture!_

" _I'm neither dead or silenced, Petrov; but you're obviously blind if you think you could talk about me, so openly, without me reacting to your say." Rebekah replied, dryly; arms crossed over her chest._

" _And she does speak, how reassuring!" Petrov commented, highly amused._

" _Oh, I do speak, just not to you!" She tilted her head, insolent._

" _She got your fire, my dear; you should be proud!" Ludvic turned his head toward Maria, a smile spreading on his lips._

" _I want to die, I want to die, and let me say once more: I want to die…Please can someone delivers me from this hell?" Stefan said to himself, while raising his eyes to the ceiling in an ultimate prayer addressed to heaven._

" _Can you pray for me as well?" Rebekah whispered, near his right ear._

" _Is there something that is not to your liking, Mister Salvatore? Can I be of help?" Petrov suddenly asked._

" _Well, let me make a list of the hosts I would gladly exchange in your place, if you allow me, Petrov?" Stefan replied, while pulling a pen from his tuxedo pocket._

" _Oh fun! Let me help!" Damon rubbed his hands together. "Ousama Bin Laden?"_

" _Well, he's dead but still; I think he deserves to be on the list." Stefan nodded to his brother. "Hitler?"_

" _Oh yah, good one… Put him!" Damon waved his hand in approval. "Satan?"_

" _A bit extreme, but … I have to agree between Satan and Petrov, I take Satan." Stefan agreed, before writing the name._

" _Aren't they hilarious, Mikael?" Petrov grinned, amused; while pointing toward both of the Salvatore brothers._

" _I can hardly contain my amusement." Mikael raised both eyebrows, before drowning his smirk in his glass of wine._

" _Were we so devil-may-care in our time, my friend?" Petrov added, questioning._

" _We were way worst." Mikael put his wine glass on the table, a laughter escaping his lips._

" _That's what I thought too." Petrov relied, smiling; arms crossed over his chest._

* * *

_**More than thousands years ago, Fyrkat, village near the river…** _

" _ **Where are the boys?" Yngve (Mikael) snapped at his wife, entering inside the hut.**_

" _ **The boys are playing near the river." Ingrid (Esther-Maria) replied, evasively; her hands folding a blanket, with her sight glancing from the corners of her eyes at her husband.**_

" _ **Is it safe for them to wonder around? I've heard that several boats landed a few hours ago, with strangers setting their camp on the other side of the bank." He undressed himself from his tunic, slowly lowering his daggers on the ground, his long golden locks cascading on his bare shoulders, skin of his muscular chest glowing in the light of a candle. "We can only hope they are not werewolves? Can we?" He winced, disdainfully.**_

" _ **You seem to easily forget that your wife is actually a witch, Yngve?" Ingrid responded, under clenched teeth. "Is it that you hate so much the entire supernatural world, or just made an exception for me?"**_

" _ **You sound ridiculous!" Mikael replied, angrily, while turning his head toward his wife; only to take a few steps to reach her standing position, before grabbing her chin with his right hand. "I simply fell in love with you." He let a smile rose on his lips. "You took my breath away, and I couldn't resist making you mine forever." He added, lowering his forehead on hers.**_

" _ **Sometimes… Sometimes, you let me forget how gentle and caring you can be." Ingrid replied, her hands rising on his chest, only to trace the muscles underneath her fingers. "And then a look in those dark eyes of yours, and it comes back to me." She added, while softly caressing his jaw line.**_

" _ **Nonetheless, it's not safe for them to play near the river while we'll have their camp near our village. We don't know who those people truly are, do we?" Yngve commented, softly kissing her parted lips; before directing his steps toward their bed.**_

" _ **But… Even if they were werewolves, maybe … Maybe, they came in peace with no intention of hurting anybody?" Ingrid shrugged, hopeful to make her husband understand that the supernatural world was not as dangerous as it may appear at first sight.**_

" _ **Are you so gullible to believe children stories?" Yngve lashed out. "The only way we could really protect ourselves from them, would be to become as powerful as they are."**_

" _ **Powerful? In which way…" Ingrid turned to face him. 'By becoming them, by bloodshed…A tooth for tooth; you perfectly know that this attitude would go against the natural course of nature!"**_

" _ **Was it the natural course of nature, when one of the Far East villages found all their children mutilated by a pack of werewolves?" Yngve busted, angrily. "Tell me woman, would you find peace if one of your own flesh and blood would find death this horrible way?"**_

_**Ingrid swallowed a lump in her throat, her eyes being kept closed under his intense glance.** _

" _ **No, I wouldn't…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry; I'll go find the boys." She added, leading her steps toward the exit of the hut.**_

_**ooOoo** _

" _ **Finn, Elijah… Where are you my boys?" Ingrid shouted, while standing on top of a big rock, near the river.**_

" _ **Mama… Mama… It's Finn!" Young Elijah screamed, while running toward his mother.**_

" _ **What is it? What happened to Finn?" Ingrid grabbed her son by the shoulders, her eyes locked with his.**_

" _ **He… He wanted to cross the river, and he… He fell in the water, near the waterfalls." Young Elijah stammered through his explanation. "He grabbed a tree branch, but he can't swim back to the bank."**_

" _ **Oh my God… Go back to the village, now!" Ingrid ordered the young boy, while pushing him. "Find your father and bring him back, run … Elijah … Run!"**_

" _ **Yes, Mama…." He responded, before rushing toward the rock path leading him to the village.**_

_**Ingrid raised the long skirt of her dress, before rushing toward the said whereabouts that her youngest had informed her of the said incident.** _

_**She stood motionless in front of the horror scene displayed in front of her sight. Finn was hanging for his life, his hands grabbing the tree branch with all the strength he had left in his arms.** _

" _ **Mama…" He yelled, while swallowing water in his throat and lungs.**_

" _ **Don't move; hold tight to the branch … I'm coming for you my son!" She yelled, while passing her dress above her head, only to thrown it on the ground a second later.**_

" _ **Though I adore the view of a naked woman, beautiful such as you…" The stranger voice cut the gloomy atmosphere. "I wouldn't put a foot in the river if I was you… You're too thin, and you'll be dragged toward the waterfalls in no time. I'll go save the boy!" The man suggested.**_

_**Ingrid raised her sight, only to finally see him on the other side of the bank. He was tall, very tall, dark light brown hair falling on his shoulders, and an undeniable presence of a king.** _

_**He got rid of his belt, holding a sword, and of his tunic; the muscles of his, now, bare chest rolling under his prompt and quick movements. She suddenly lowered her sight, a sudden fire reaching both of her cheeks. What was she thinking? She was a married woman … And one of her son was drowning for God sake! That was certainly not the time to blush in front of a stranger, was it?** _

" _ **Hold that branch, boy; I'm coming!" He yelled to Finn, before jumping into the cold water.**_

_**Ingrid raised her right hand over her lips, the beats of her heart pounding loudly and rapidly inside of her chest. The man finally reached her son, before grabbing him by the waist only to drag him toward the side of the bank where Ingrid was standing.** _

" _ **Oh my God, Finn…" She darted toward the man who was holding his son life in his hands and arms, entering the cold water to reach them both.**_

" _ **He's ok, he's alive… You don't need to worry anymore, woman." The man addressed himself to her.**_

" _ **Mama…" Finn whispered, before losing consciousness.**_

" _ **He's ok, why is he unconscious then?" She caressed the boy's head, while following the man toward the firm ground.**_

_**He lowered the boy's body to the grass, before bending his head on his chest, and near his mouth, to feel if the young lad was breathing.** _

" _ **Too much excitement for a young boy such as him I suppose." He raised his sight in hers, a smile spreading on his lips. "He's breathing normally; you don't have to worry anymore."**_

" _ **Oh thank you, thank you … You've just saved my son's life… I don't even know your name, but … How may I repay you?" Ingrid asked, her right hand softly touching the man's left forearm.**_

" _ **My name is Ludvig … And seeing you holding your son in your arms is all the thanks I need." He responded, smiling.**_

* * *

_The two gigantic doors leading to the dining room opened on their arches, with Bonnie and Kol advancing toward Ludvig's table._

" _Well, well … I believe the last of the Mikaelson clan has just arrived?" Ludvic wiped the corners of his lips with a napkin; before rising on his legs. "Mister Kol and the lovely Miss Bennett, welcome! Please, join us?"_

" _I highly doubt you'll want to eat in my companionship, after what I'll say to you, Petrov?" Kol lashed out, perniciously. "Not after cutting your appetite short, that is."_

" _Bonnie are you ok? And what is going on?" Carolina grabbed her friend's hand, in a vain attempt to lean more._

" _I'm fine, but I can't talk now, Carolina." Bonnie shook her head, softly squeezing her friend's hand, before following Kol at the left far end of the table._

" _I've actually heard that you were the … How can I put it politely, the most rambunctious of Mikael's children?" Ludvic commented, a rictus spreading in the right corner of his lips._

" _Be warned Petrov, my brother can be lethal, even in his best days." Klaus pointed out, winking at Kol. "It's one of the traits we have in common; we like to finish what we've started… More time than I could wish to mention, in a large puddle of blood." He grinned, perniciously._

" _I wouldn't believe that my own son is actually threatening me at the moment, is he?" Petrov let a smile spread from ear to ear._

" _Can I be more rambunctious than you? I'm certainly not the one building a genetically transformed army of hybrids?" Kol raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"_

" _Kol; don't push it?" Bonnie swallowed a lump in her throat, retaining his left arm, with a firm grip of her right hand. "Say what you came here to say." She suggested to the Original, in a low whisper._

" _Well Kol… You love to play with matches and fire, with obviously not a single fear of the danger inside of you, as I can see?" Petrov commented, amused. "And, your lady friend, Miss Bennett, seems to have your back?"_

" _If I was you I would put the hold button on your hybrids manufactory, daddy wolf!" Kol replied, disdainfully; before throwing a thick document on the table. "As for the fear factor, I would take a good look at this!"_

" _Kol, what is going on?" Elijah asked, before throwing his napkin on the table. "What did you find out?"_

" _What is this?" Petrov grabbed the document, suddenly losing his smile at the view of the Vatican sign._

" _The Vatican has put into place a plan to get rid of all supernatural species present on this earth, so as for your plan to conquer it with hybrids, it will have to wait!" Kol announced, unceremoniously._

" _That preposterous… Where have you come up with an idea like this, son?" Mikael pushed his chair, before rising on his legs to reach Petrov's standing position._

" _Witches, who are part of the resistance, informed us." Bonnie responded, informatively._

" _Even if "this" was true, they have no way of realizing such a feat!" Ludvic growled, the said document being snapped off from his hands by Alexay._

" _If this is even remotely true, how will they manage to defeat us? Holly water will certainly not do the trick? What is their main weapon?" Petrov's right man commented._

" _Satan!" Kol replied, toneless._

" _As in long tail, horns, holding a pitch fork; with his main address of residency in hell?" Damon commented, with his eyes widely opened. "I knew I shouldn't have brought him on the list earlier!" He added; whispering the words to Stefan._

" _As in: Augustine!" Kol responded, while narrowing his sight on both Mikael and Petrov; who blenched at the sound of the name._

" _In my private chamber now… All of you!" Petrov ordered, dryly, the guests present at his table; before turning on his heels to head outside the dining room, with Alexay and Mikael close on his heels._

" _Why do I feel that we are on deeper shit that we all were already?" Damon commented._


	27. The king's big bash - Part 3

_Alexay closed the two imposing doors of the parlor room on the last guests invited inside Petrov's private chamber; before discreetly disappearing after receiving a direct order under discreet exchange of whispers._

" _Damn; it feels like Christmas all over again, our family brought all together under the same roof…We're only missing the Christmas tree. Thanks for the invite uncle Petrov!" Kol mocked, openly; while taking a sitting position in a leather chair, both army boots raised on a coffee table._

" _Is he always so obnoxious?" Ludvic questioned, wincing at Kol's obvious nonchalance._

" _What? Kol … Oh no, he's actually well behave today." Klaus smirked, winking at his brother, before abruptly pushing Carolina on a nearby chair, while whispering the order to her. "Stay with your ass on this chair, don't move and don't say a word!"_

" _Thank you, my dear brother Nicklaus. And, what am I supposed to call you now? Nicklaus Mikaelson Petrov?" Kol raised his right hand to scratch the scuff on his chin. "It sounds a bit pompous would you say?"_

" _See, he's even making joke?" Klaus added, pointing toward a grinning Kol._

" _Go to hell!" Carolina rose back on her legs, closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body. "I'll sit when I want to sit and it's not you who will order me around!'_

" _Don't make me say it one more time, Carolina! Or perhaps, you'd prefer to sit on my lap like an obedient wife? If so that could easily be arranged, Love?" Klaus locked his sight in hers, under clenched teeth._

_Carolina closed her eyes, between two evil choices the less degrading was perhaps the one she should choose? She sat back on the cushion, arms crossed over her chest, lips forming a thin line of anger._

" _Now, that's a good girl!" Klaus patted her head, teaser._

" _Fuck you!" She growled in a low murmur, under her heavy breathing._

" _Put your feet down and try to act with some decency and respect!" Mikael busted to his youngest son, while pushing Kol's legs away from the table._

" _Mummy, daddy is being an asshole to me, like always." Kol pushed the note a bit further, a smile spreading from ear to ear._

" _Oh Kol, could you just try to keep quiet, for me?" Maria begged his son to silence himself, nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _Where are you going?" Elijah retained his wife, with a firm grip on her forearm._

" _Why, you're going to make me sit like my sister on a chair?" Katerina raised an eyebrow, confrontational. "Wrists and ankles restrained by a chain, I suppose?"_

" _No, but I know that look of yours. This is not the time to retaliate on Mikael, and more so if someone needs to do it, it will be me!" Elijah commented, unwavering._

" _Let me take my revenge on him, Elijah; I'm not … I'm not human anymore, I can do this." Katerina begged him._

" _The answer is no." Elijah replied, dryly. "You can barely control your vampire urges at the moment, how do you expect to go head to head with my father; an original nonetheless?"_

" _Don't tell me there's never been a single woman in the world who has told you that you were a sexist ass?" Katerina spitted in her husband face, both closed fists placed on each side of her waist._

" _Well, to be frank my dear, no, not one as sexy as yourself." Elijah winked; amused._

" _Oh, you're nothing but a chauvinist pig!" Katerina stomped both feet on the marble floor. "Now that I think about it, sitting with my sister is perhaps the best option!"_

" _Do you have a death-wish inside this tiny mind of yours, or what?" Bonnie bended her head near Kol to whisper her say. "Why are you pushing Petrov this way?"_

" _You want to sit on my lap, darling? Of course you can, come see pappy Kol, there's plenty of room to put your lovely ass on me?" Kol proposed out loud to cover their private exchange. "I'm trying to make him snap to know the truth!" Kol added in the lowest murmur._

" _You refused that I sat on your lap in the train, earlier, remember?" Bonnie arched both of her eyebrows, teaser. "Now who knows when I'll do it again?"_

" _I'm sure I'll find you in my bed later on, cupcake!" Kol responded, tit for tat._

" _Children, please, keep your naughty exchange away from my pure ears, would you?" Damon winced at Kol's and Bonnie's exchange, shaking his shoulders; before directing his steps toward the bar. "Stefan, can I get you a drink? You don't mind I hope, Petrov? Considering I've been stripped by your beautiful, but deadly, daughter; and chained to a bed, it's the least you could do, right?"_

" _I'm always available for a rematch, sweet Damon; I could tie you up on the chandelier, and whip you in front of everybody else. You feel up to it?" Anastassia waved her manicured fingers to the young vampire, a smirk raising both sides of her pulpous red lips._

" _For God sake, Anastassia; lock your dirty tongue inside your mouth!" Petrov snapped at his daughter._

" _Of father, if only you knew all the things I can do with my tongue besides talking." Anastassia winked at Damon, who rolled his eyes to the ceiling; while pouring double scotch into his glass._

" _At this rate, bring the bottle, would you, Damon. To endure this get-together, I'll obviously need to be drunk." Stefan leaned his back on the wall, before lowering his head near Rebekah's. "You're holding up?"_

" _What's so beautiful about "her", anyway?" Rebekah frowned, while narrowing her sight on the red head. "She's so common." She added, shrugging._

" _Bekah?" Stefan whispered her name to attract her attention back at him._

" _What?" She turned her head to stare into his dark eyes._

" _She got nothing on you." He complimented, with a sincere smile._

" _Thanks, but your opinion is invalid, Mister Salvatore." Rebekah responded._

" _And why is that, Mrs. Mikaelson?" Stefan asked, amused._

" _Simple, it's because you prefer blonde." She replied, winking._

" _Can we get to the point of this meeting, if it's not too much to ask?" Elijah took a step forward, rubbing both of his hands together, with his chin raised toward Petrov and Mikael._

_Both men exchange a rapid glance, before starting their tale._

" _The man was renamed as Augustine. He was… Or I should say, he still is, a killing machine, recreated in a laboratory." Petrov informed, toneless._

" _Why do you say he was renamed?" Elijah arched an eyebrow, questioning. "And what do you mean by he was recreated in a laboratory?"_

" _His name is actually Aleksandr Viktorievitch." Petrov started._

" _Augustine lived more than thousand years ago as a Viking who used to hunt supernatural entities such as witches, vampires and werewolves." Mikael continued. "He was known as the most lethal hunter on earth. He would ravage villages, leaving a trail of blood behind him."_

" _Well, well, well … And I thought that you were the supremacy of all hunters!" Klaus mocked, a smirk raising both sides of his manly lips. "It's a bummer that you've been kind of put down by this "Augustine" would you say, Mikael?"_

" _Make your son shut his big mouth, please?" Mikael shook his head, right hand stroking his eyelids, while growling at the insinuation._

" _This is not a laughing matter, Klaus." Petrov warned him dryly; both arms crossed over his muscular chest. "Don't act like you know everything, when you know shit!"_

" _You think I don't know that fact, father dearest." Klaus took a step toward his biological father, darting his fiery sight on him; while making Carolina raise from her sitting position on the chair, fearing the worst. "You came from nowhere, proclaiming that you were the king, reclaiming your title as my father, changing the rules on the supernatural world, requiring total obedience, creating an army of hybrids genetically transformed, how are you so different from that Augustine?" Klaus lashed out to his face._

" _I'm Ludvig Petrov, I'm the king; and while you'll stand underneath my roof, you'll do as I say and you'll show me respect, am I clear, son?" Ludvig yelled; closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _Nicklaus; don't push your father." Maria took a step forward, both hands retaining her son from jumping on the throat of his father; with a firm grip of her hand placed on his left forearm._

" _Please accept my deepest apologies, Carolina." Petrov addressed her. "I didn't mean to scare you." He added. "Just be reassured that I wouldn't hurt my son. But isn't it the parent's job to teach their children of obedience and decency?"_

" _I couldn't say the same; I would hurt you in a blink of an eye." Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _Klaus is a wild beast; you couldn't manage to tame him, even if you'd tried." Carolina responded, before taking her sitting position back on the chair, while feeling Klaus's stare fixated on her._

" _What happened afterward?" Elijah asked, to cut the bickering short, while recapping the conversation. "How did you come into contact with that man?"_

_Petrov and Mikael glare at each other, before continuing their tale._

" _He came to our village one day; we only managed to save a few people from his insane tyranny." Mikael continued, while swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _One single man; and you'd managed to save only a few?" Klaus raised an eyebrow, suspiciously. "We're you… We're we…" Klaus stammered through his question, a gloomy feeling for the past wrapping his soul of bitterness. Even after more than a thousand of years, the resentment to have been turned against his will, with his siblings, was still very present in a part of his heart._

" _Turned? No. You were too young to remember, Nicklaus; blood flowed afloat, covering the land of his dark color." Mikael explained. "It was impossible for a human to fight this warrior; except Petrov managed to slow him down."_

" _You were a werewolf at that time?" Klaus questioned his biological father._

" _Yes." Petrov nodded. "And, it's in my supernatural form that I was able to slow him down, but with a high price to pay." He added, before getting rid of his cape, raising his shirt, only to show the profound scars covering his entire chest to a shock and speechless auditory._

" _Oh my god!" Maria exclaimed, in shock; a hand rose above her trembling lips. "What kind of a twisted human being would cause such horrible wounds?"_

" _Daddy… I didn't know…" Anastassia shook her head, standing petrified in front of the horror her father had to endure._

" _It is fine, Anastassia; obviously I'm here now." He brushed the subject off, in all proudness._

" _How did you survive?" Elijah wondered out loud._

" _Your mother, Esther… Or should I say our beloved Maria, here present; took care of bringing her beloved Ludvic to health." Mikael explained, slyly._

" _I can only guess that I showed an injured man some empathy, something that you have obviously forgotten through the centuries." Maria snapped at her ex-husband._

" _Don't give that asshole the time of the day, Maria… Please?" George bended his head, while whispering the words near her left ear._

" _Oh believe me, my dear; you've showed him way more than empathy!" Mikael replied, under clenched teeth. "After all, Klaus did not come from a stork!"_

" _And in return you made my mother loose her memory; how very noble of you, father?" Elijah commented, dryly. "Can we go back to the subject at hands? I can only presume that man escaped after your tirade?"_

" _He disappeared, no one ever knew if someone had managed to kill him or not." Petrov nodded. "Then words started to travel, village to village, coming from nowhere and everywhere. He had been captured by a powerful group of witches; only to be burned alive, and brought up to life once again, but in the form of a more satanic version of himself."_

" _Was there any truth to that?" Klaus wondered._

" _No one could know." Mikael shook his head. "He disappeared from the face of the earth; the tale became legend, obviously."_

" _Until…" Petrov sighed, loudly._

" _Until what exactly… What happened after?" Elijah repeated, narrowing his sight on their host._

" _Maybe the rest of this tale should be left for another time?" Petrov coughed, uncomfortable. "The important thing is that you all know that the threat could be the most lethal ever received."_

" _No! Stop this!" Katerina jumped on her feet. "We can't be kept in the dark anymore. You were kind and decent to me in the past, Petrov." She begged for their host's indulgence. "I know you're not the twisted man, most people think you are; you have a sense of loyalty inside of yourself, a sense of honor, a sense of respect for the hierarchy in the supernatural world." She added to flatter his ego. "We need to know … Please, let us know what all of this mean?"_

" _Of course, if one should know how to handle a man's ego, it would obviously be your wife!" Mikael pointed his right hand toward the brunette, while addressing himself to Elijah._

" _You're nothing more than a bastard!" Elijah lashed out, before reaching his father's position, his right fist meeting the patriarch's jaw in a matter of seconds._

" _Oh my God…" Maria exclaimed in shock, pushing George in their direction; in a vain attempt to pulling them apart._

" _What the fuck, Elijah!" Mikael exclaimed from his lying position on the marble floor; his right hand rose to stroke his bruised jaw._

" _Stay the hell away from my wife, don't even pronounce her name, am I clear?" Elijah busted, while grabbing two sides of his father's shirt collar._

" _Elijah, he's not even deserving of your anger." Klaus pulled his brother away, while George grabbed Mikael to separate the two men._

" _Your angriness is the most pathetic, hypocrite thing I've ever seen, son!" Mikael spitted to the face of his eldest._

" _Oh yah, and why is that father?" Elijah growled; closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _You're angry because you were not the one who turned your wife; and it's eating your ego inside-out that a simple accident took that pleasure from you." Mikael yelled the truth to his son's face, a gloomy silence filling the room._

_Katerina took the first steps to reach their standing position, before being retained by a firm grip of her sister's hand on her forearm._

" _Let them handle their power-trip… Don't put more grief inside of you, Katerina, please?" Carolina begged, hopeful she would listen to her._

_It was the first words between both sisters had exchanged since their fight a few hours ago._

" _Ok, I'll do as you say." Katerina nodded, a timid smile spreading on her lips._

" _Enough!" Petrov suddenly yelled through the commotion present in the room. "We are in real danger if Augustine has been brought up to life." He sighed loudly. "And you're right, Katerina; I'm a man of honor and I can assure you that this is no laughing matter. As for the men present in this room, If you want to fight, keep your strength to fight him!"_

" _Then tell us more, please?" Katerina begged the imposing man._

" _Vittorio, can you continue, please?" Petrov called the said man, who stood in setback of the effervescence._

" _Yes, darling; did you call me?" The said warlock asked, mockingly; while reaching Petrov's standing position. "I was highly entertained with the explosion of testosterones." He added, waving his right hand to blow some air to his face._

" _This is Vittorio, my personal warlock." Their host announced unceremoniously, under the speechless expression of Carolina._

" _I know my darling, could you find in your heart to forgive me?" Vittorio implored, winking. "And to say that your husband thought something was happening between us? No worries, muscles man, I was ordered to keep an eye on your wife." He added for Klaus's behalf. "There'll be no need to try to kill me next time, ok?"_

" _You think I can't keep an eye on my own wife, Petrov?" Klaus asked, dryly; under the rolling of eyes of his father._

" _Now, now … Let me, finish this tale would you?" The eccentric man proposed._

" _Why would you be more apt at telling this story?" Bonnie questioned, with arched eyebrows; arms crossed over her chest._

" _Ah, the delightful, Miss Bennett; your grandmother was a magnificent witch." He complimented with a reverence._

" _You knew my grandmother?" Bonnie exclaimed; shocked beyond belief._

" _Yes, Miss Bennett, I knew your grandmother, and I'll tell you know why later on." Vittorio nodded, respectfully. "Let's start: 1953…Words spread through the supernatural world that the Vatican would perform some kind of ritual to exorcist the different species of the supernatural world from the human one."_

" _Exorcist… What are we now, Freddy Krueger?" Stefan rolled his eyes._

" _The words were that the Vatican had brought the ultimate weapon as the past form of a warrior named_ _Aleksandr Viktorievitch_ _." Vittorio continued. "They had required the help of scientists in a secret laboratory that would change this "brought back to life" man into a killing machine."_

" _And… What is proving to us of the veracity of this tale?" Klaus asked; features of his face tensing._

" _And nothing… The gossips died; I remember thinking that this could only be garbage, a legend tale thrown into the close community of witches, werewolves and vampire, at Halloween to scare the ones who wanted to be scare." Mikael commented, shrugging._

" _Until now…" Petrov added, while sighing loudly._

" _What is so different between then and now?" Elijah wondered, out loud._

" _Me!" Vittorio announced, ceremoniously. "Miss Bennett, I knew your grandmother because I was present as the resistance against the Vatican." He purged the truth. "And I can assure you all, that Augustine is a real threat brought back to life by them, to destroy the supernatural world as we know it now."_

" _You knew my grandmother, how … When…" Bonnie stammered through her sentence._

" _I'll tell you all in good time, darling." Vittorio addressed the brunette a sincere smile._

" _That can only mean one thing…" Elijah thought out loud, his sight lost in the emptiness of the big room._

" _I can see that you have already figured this one out." Vittorio nodded, with respect._

" _By killing the Originals with this ultimate weapon, they'll manage to kill all the line of vampires underneath us." Elijah continued, under the petrified stare of the assembly._

" _Precisely, you have guessed their game plan." Vittorio agreed, before turning his glare toward Petrov._

" _First hours tomorrow, we'll vacate this mansion. This subject is not opened to discussion." Petrov ordered. "I suggest to all to have a good night of sleep. Tomorrow, we go to war!"_

* * *

_Katerina passed beside Elijah's standing position in the corridor, darting an angry stare at the man she was calling her husband, before passing the threshold of their bedroom suite. If a single look could kill … This present one would be it!_

_The Original passed the threshold himself, before turning on himself to face his bodyguard._

" _Keep an eye on my mother, would you?" Elijah gave the last order, both hands grabbing each side of the door arches. "Tonight must have been very hard for her."_

" _I'm on my way." George nodded, respectfully; before rushing in direction of Maria's bedroom._

" _And George…" Elijah added._

" _Yes?" The bodyguard turned to face his boss, once more._

" _You're good for her." Elijah commented, truthfully. "I mean, she's smiling when you're around."_

" _How am I supposed to take this compliment?" George arched an eyebrow, amused. "Is it your blessing to further my relationship with your mother? Or did I misread your words?"_

" _Well, you take my say, the way you wish to take it." Elijah smirked._

" _With all respect, you know that I don't need your blessing to be "good" to your mother." George teased. "And when I say good…"_

" _And it's exactly here and now that our conversation ends." Elijah closed the door on his grinning bodyguard; before turning his sight toward his wife, who was furiously throwing her high heels shoes at one corner of the bedroom, before taking off her earring and necklace. Her angry sight suddenly rose in the mirror above the dresser to meet her husband glance._

" _If you want to take a shower, you can … Or I mean; I could also take the shower before you?" Katerina proposed, under clenched teeth. "I don't care, either way, as long as we go to sleep."_

_Elijah remained silent for a few minutes; throwing his tuxedo vest on a nearby armchair, before slowly removing his cufflinks._

" _Are you mad at me, Katerina?" He finally commented; while rolling the sleeves of his shirt on his forearms._

" _Well, now Elijah, why would I ever be mad at you?" The brunette turned on herself, arms crossed over her chest, chin raised in a confrontational gesture. "You're the perfect husband, so patient, tolerant, an honorable man with a sense of honor." She added, dryly. "In all honesty, I should kneel in front of you and kiss your feet for granted me the chance to become your wife and obedient servant!"_

" _You're mad, and you're patronizing me in top of everything." He sighed, loudly; a nerves twitching inside his left cheek. "Are you in need of my blood; is that the reason why you're acting irrational?"_

" _Irrational? Irrational … Oh, you did not see me "irrational" yet,_ _напыщенный_ _человек_ _!"_ _She lashed out his face with a finger directed at his chest._

" _And you just brought your natal language into this argument, like I have no idea what you just said to me!" Elijah busted, angrily. "And I'm not a pompous man, Katerina, far from it!"_

" _You had no right to take what should have been "mine"; you had no right to grant yourself what should have been my revenge on your father, Elijah!" She addressed the issue; while pacing back and forth over the length of the Persian rug. "You made me feel like someone who's weak, unable to face a man who repeatedly abused me. You made me feel like my only purpose was to sit in one corner of the room, as the poor defenseless creature that you needed to defend." She added, while holding her pace._

" _I had every right, woman!" Elijah responded, with rage. "You're my wife, you belong to me!" He added, fisting his own muscular chest. "It was my duty as your husband to protect your honor."_

" _Right…" Katerina nodded, a lump forming in her throat. "How can I ever forget the fact that_ **I belong to you** _; you've paid a high enough some of money to buy me as your wife." She added, tears reaching her eyes. ."_

" _I didn't mean that, and you perfectly know it, Katerina!" Elijah pointed a forbidden finger in her direction. "Don't put words into my mouth!"_

" _What if I put different words in your mouth? You've paid enough money to the marital agency to have the privilege to turn your wife as a vampire, but your father stole that right from underneath your feet!" Katerina lashed out, redness spreading on her cheeks._

" _You prefer to listen to the insanity of my father, than have faith in your husband!" Elijah busted. "If I had wanted to turn you I would have done it ages ago!"_

" _Because as much I dislike your father; this time Mikael was right! Don't dare have the audacity to lie through your teeth to me; it was always in the back of your mind, even if you had sworn to me that you wouldn't turn me, at my own request." She replied, angrily._

" _Fine… Yes! What kind of a man would I be not to wish for you to be by my side for eternity? Can you answer me this, Katerina?" Elijah put his cards on the table. "But …" He closed his eyes, while sighing loudly. "The day I've turned you, I sincerely thought I was losing you for good, it was not a test anymore."_

" _You want to know what kind of man you are. You're the kind of man who bought himself a female escort that he wished he could turn as an obedient vampire wife." She replied, slyly._

" _Wow!" Elijah shook his head in disbelief. "You did not just say those words to me?"_

" _Isn't it the truth after all?" She shrugged, lowering her head and praying God to retain her tears at bay._

" _Then, maybe it's time…" He shrugged himself. "…For me to get what I've paid for."_

_Katerina startled in surprise; before slowly raising her head to stare into his eyes._

" _What… What do you mean by that?" She stammered through her question._

" _I bought an escort; I want you to act like one tonight." Elijah asked, uncompromisingly._

* * *

" _This request is beyond cruel, Elijah; even more coming from your own mouth." Katerina managed to let the words escape her mouth; with tears filling her eyes._

" _No, Katerina; it's not." Elijah shook his head, taking a few extra steps to reach his wife's sanding position. "The amount of respect I have for you and for the sacrifice you've made for your sister can't even be express in words." He started explaining his motive, nervously passing his right hand through his tangled hair. "For the millions of times, I couldn't care less if you were an escort in the past, or how many men you've slept with or if you've ever felt in love with any of them…"_

" _No, Elijah … I've never felt any kind of love before…" She tried to reassure him._

" _Let me finish, would you?" You know why I couldn't care less, simply because, in a strange turn of events, faith brought you to me. Me? A beast, who never deserved for such gift. We would have never met, Katerina. That single thought is leaving me so empty inside." He cupped her face with both hands, his sight drown in hers. "I love every damn part of you, because your entire being is beautiful to me." He added, moved by his own declaration. "It's me who should be ashamed of who I am, not the other way around."_

" _Your father…" Katerina started her, before being cut in the middle of her sentence._

" _My father is jealous! Jealous of the luck I had to find a woman as wonderful as you." He lowered his head to kiss her forehead._

" _Why did you ask me to act like an escort?" Katerina questioned, tears rolling on her cheeks; while his thumbs was brushing them away. "I don't understand?"_

" _Because it's a part of you that I want to "love" as well." He whispered, swallowing a lump in his throat. "So, I'm asking you to show your husband the escort in you?"_

* * *

_Elijah had move back a few steps away from her standing position, his fiery sigh narrowed on his wife._

" _How… I mean, for me to do that, you'll need to let go of yourself." Katerina explained. You need to give me all the power. I'm not sure…"_

" _I'll do it." Elijah nodded. "What would you do first?" He whispered._

" _Undress…" Katerina replied, while slowly pushing the straps of her dress on her shoulders, upper arms, down on her breasts, waist, hips, before sliding the rich fabric on her long legs, and finally down on the floor._

" _And then…" He inquired, the tip of his tongue slowly sliding on the length of his manly lips._

" _I'll get rid of my bra…" The brunette vampire unhooked the back, before throwing the tiny piece of lingerie on the bed. "While caressing my breasts suggestively…" She added, clasping gesture to speak._

_Fuck! Elijah closed his eyes, while letting a loud sight escape his parted lips… Immortal or not, that woman would kill him one day!_

" _Then I would walk toward my client, and I would start to undress him as well…" She continued, walking suggestively toward her husband; before coming to a halt, slowly raising both hands on his muscular chest to unbutton his shirt; only to push the sleeves on his arms, the fabric hitting the floor a second later. "And then … I would unzip his pants…" She added, while proceeding._

" _So fast, no preliminary, no kisses?" Elijah asked, lowering his sight on her doing, with an arched eyebrow._

" _It depends? You've paid a large sum of money for my services; there is no time to spare." She shrugged, slowly sliding her right hand underneath the elastic band of his boxer, to gently strike his hard length._

" _Shit!" Elijah growled, wincing under his sexual arousal._

" _You like it?" Katerina whispered the words, softly nibbling on his earlobe._

_Get a grip Elijah! Get a fucking grip!_

" _How… I mean … How much did I pay?" He continued to role-play._

" _You've paid, five thousands, for the "total" service." She replied, while pushing his pants and boxer down, liberating his full erection._

" _I've paid that price for the night?" Elijah questioned, near insanity._

" _For one hour…" Katerina mouthed the words on top of his parted lips, lowering her demanding lips on his chest, down on his stomach, V-line; before kneeling in front of her husband. "Only fair that you get the best service, would you say?" She smirked, sliding her wet mouth on his length._

" _You're going to kill me!" Elijah exclaimed, grabbing her head to push her in a closer proximity, while slowly rocking his pelvic, in and out, of her heavenly mouth._

" _I'm actually surprised how good of a client you are?" She commented, slowly rising back on her legs._

" _At what exact moment is it the client time to have his little fun with you?" Elijah whispered; teaser._

" _Whenever he, or should I say you want; you're the boss." Katerina grabbed both of his hands to place them on her swallowed breasts._

" _Now, would be the right time for me." He winked, raising his wife in his arms, under her loud cry of surprise and small laughter._

" _You need blood?" Elijah asked, concerned; while lowering Katerina's naked body on the bedspread._

" _Yes, but don't worry, I'm ok." She shook her head, redness reaching both cheeks._

_He laid himself on top of her, abruptly pushing her legs apart, without any other preliminaries, only to push his hardness inside her wet walls._

" _Oh, you're going at "it" so soon, sir?" She mocked, while crossing her legs around his waist line._

" _Time is money, beautiful Katerina." Elijah smirked, increasing his thrusting. "Bite me!"_

_Katerina lowered her head on the left side of his neck; slowly entering her fangs to gulp his rich elixir; experiencing the best erotic moment of her entire life… Gone her past as an escort… Gone the tears … Gone the clients she had known … Only one man counted for her now, and for eternity… and that man was her husband!_

_It's under her loud panting of arousal that Elijah entered his fangs in the tender flesh of his wife's neck, both reaching their peak simultaneously, a short moment after._

* * *

_A knock on the bedroom door made Damon startled by the discreet noise filling the silence in the room. He dropped his glass of Bourdon on a nearby dresser, directing his walking steps toward the entrance, before opening the door on its panel._

" _Anastassia?" He frowned at the redhead bombshell standing in front of his sight. Not that that prospect of having her show up in his private quarters, in the late hours of the night, could surprise him. "I'm not in the mood for your dominatrix game tonight, so … Do us both a favor, would you, and go sleep in your bed to get a good night sleep, ok?" He rolled his eyes to the ceiling with annoyance, before noticing the dark black circles her mascara had left underneath her eyes… She had cried?_

" _Damon… Hold me; please?" Anastassia passed the threshold before jumping into his arms, her hands grabbing his neck while her head leaned on his left shoulder, with tears rolling fluently on her cheeks._

" _Hey, hey, hey … What's going on? Why are you crying, gorgeous?" Damon wrapped his arms around her frail silhouette, his right foot giving a quick in the panel to close the door on its arch._

" _Everything…" The redhead sobbed, loudly. "I just need someone to hold me, please; can you hold me, Damon?" She begged, hopeful._

" _Sure…" Damon replied, surprised by this new side of her gentler personality; softly caressing her long lustrous hair, his chin resting on top of her head. "Shush… It's going to be alright." He slowly rocked her in the comfort of his arms._

" _I feel stupid … I can't help it, everything around me is "shit" and …" She stammered, through an incoherent sentence; her right hand grabbing Damon's shirt like a life buoy._

" _What?" Damon slowly grabbed her chin, to make her raise her head and sight in his. "No, you can't…that's my line! Saying that life is "shit" is mine; you can't steal it from me." Damon teased, winking._

_Anastassia let a small laugher sound escape her throat, with a ghost of a smile spreading on her red lips._

" _Can we share "shit" together then?" The Russian beauty asked, mocker; while sniffing her tears away._

" _Well, I could possibly accept to share "shit" with you, but on one condition?" Damon replied, smiling._

" _Oh yah, what's that?" She asked; her sight now locked with the young vampire's._

" _If you show me one of your beautiful smiles… A real one, not a fake one; I'll know the difference." He arched an eyebrow, before seeing her teeth appearing underneath a sincere smile. "Well, that's my girl." He exclaimed, smiling himself._

" _Thank you … I don't know what came over me… I … I'm just so tired of everything." Anastassia confessed, while pushing herself at arm length of Damon's welcoming arms; before reaching the bar to pour a glass of vodka. "You want one?" She turned on herself to face him._

" _No thank you; I'm good. I think it's kind of natural that you're feeling overwhelmed with everything that had happened the past few days. The life you knew prior to learning you had a half-brother had been turned upside down, and not to help the prospect of dying by the hands of a killing machine named Augustine is not adding to the joyful party, would you say?" Damon winced._

" _I guess…" She shrugged, drinking her glass in one single gulp._

" _I don't think drinking your sorrows away, could help though … Believe me; I'm a pro in the said method." Damon pulled the glass away from her hands._

" _I need some kind a relief, Damon; if not drinking … Then…" She started, her fiery sight sliding on the length of his body._

" _No, no, no … No, no … And did I say: No!" Damon waved his finger in front of Anastassia's nose. "We've been on that road before…"_

" _Did we, I don't remember you fucking me?" When was that?" She raised herself on her tiptoes, before nibbling on his left earlobe._

" _Oh damn… I have no will power against you." Damon growled, closing his eyes, with both hands descending from the small of her back to reach the delicious curves of her bottom._

" _I want you Damon; and I always get what I want…" Anastassia whispered, trailing her lips on his jaw line, softly kissing his bottom lip; before opening her eyes to stare at his expressionless face. "Don't you want me to?"_

" _It's not that, Anastassia." Damon shook his head, before reopening his eyes to stare in hers._

" _I'm not your style? You don't find me attractive?" She swallowed a lump in her throat, redness reaching both of her cheeks._

" _What, no, come on; I'm neither a blind nor a fool!" Damon replied, amazed by her low self-esteem, all of a sudden. "I'm just …"_

"… _Not interested in sleeping with me… I got it!" She finished his sentence, while pushing herself at arm length of his standing position._

" _Don't put words inside my mouth that are not the truth." He warned her. "We're both toxic and extremely sexual people, Anastassia; the mix of the two can only bring more trouble into our life. Is that what you really want?"_

_The redhead stared into Damon's eyes for a few additional seconds, biting her bottom lip in indecision; before slowly pushing the straps of her dress on her forearms, down on her hips, the fabric hitting the wooden floor in silence, into a pile of silk._

" _If you want to "fuck me", I'll be in the shower waiting for you." She replied, before turning on her heels to reach the adjacent bathroom, under the speechless expression of Damon. "And bring a belt with you."_

" _Damn … How is she always able to bring me into her net?" Damon swore, under clenched teeth._

* * *

_The young vampire stood in front of the four wall glass shower, his fiery sight sliding on the length of the naked woman standing underneath the showerhead, with her eyes closed and her firm breasts balancing at the motion of her arms, the splash of water hardening her nipples. Talking about "hardening"; his tuxedo pants felt small all of a sudden; especially at the crotch area._

" _You'll come join me or you'll look at my breasts all night long? Your choice, but wouldn't you prefer to touch them?" Anastassia asked; her fingers massaging her scalp underneath the cascade of water._

_The redhead beauty turned on her heels, the coolness of the water refreshing the washed skin of her face. She finally opened her eyes, the silence in the room taking her by surprise. Has he left?_

" _You're a teaser you know?" She finally heard Damon's voice near her right ear; his hands encircling her waist, before slowly cupping both of her breasts. "God, you're beautiful, Anastassia!" He whispered softly, his head bending to leave a trail of hot kisses on her neck._

" _Damon…" Anastassia moaned his name, lips half parted, head leaning on his muscular bare chest. "Caress me…" She suggested, sensually; leading his right hand down on her core, where her wetness met his fingers._

" _Oh Anastassia, what are you doing to me?" Damon growled loudly; while massaging her parted lips, before raising his hand to grab her chin, only to crash his lips on hers; his tongue pushing its way onto her wet mouth as well._

" _Do you have the belt?" She mouthed in top of his lips, her hands trailing circles on his bare chest, before softly rubbing his length._

" _Yes." He questioned, with an arched eyebrow._

" _Attached my wrists to the showerhead, would you?" She suggested, playful. "After all, it's only fair, would you say?"_

" _Yes, Ma'am … I would think so too." He winked, before proceeding into restraining her hands and arms above her head. "And now, Miss Petrov, what do you want me to do?"_

" _I want you to fuck me like there was no tomorrow for us." She whispered, with a shaking voice and eyes closed._

_Damon positioned himself in her back, at her damped entrance, before slowly pushing his hard length inside of her walls._

" _Like this?" He questioned, growling with pleasure._

" _Oh yes… Like this…" She moaned, a smile of contentment spreading on her lips._

_After all, Anastassia Petrov always had her wishes fulfilled, and this time was not different._

* * *

" _You know what is pissing me off?" Bonnie entered Kol's bedroom like a stream of air, before slapping the door behind her back._

" _Well, hello to you too, Bonnie Bennett!" Kol greeted, after jumping out of his skin; only to spill of few drops of his glass of vodka on the floor. That witch was like a tornado on two legs! "Do you want to enter my humble abode? Do you wish for a glass of vodka? Oh but wait? You've already enter without me inviting you; or am I mistaking?!"_

" _Thanks!" She responded, disregarding Kol's say, before grabbing his glass; only to drink its entirety in one single gulp. "Oh, that feels good… Damn it!"_

" _Or I could as easily leave my own quarters if you wish?" Kol shrugged, good player._

" _Don't interrupt me, would you?" She pointed a finger in his direction; while pacing back and forth on the length of the Persia rug placed at the foot of the bed._

" _I wouldn't dream of it, darling." Kol replied, smirking; while taking a sitting position on an armchair to pull out his army boots. "Oh my feet are killing me."_

" _What is pissing me off is that Petrov was aware of all this "Augustine" threat; even before we encounter the witches back at the Vatican." Bonnie continued her rant._

" _What an asshole that Uncle Petrov, I agree!" Kol threw his army boots at one corner of the bedroom. "Ohhhhh … This feels good!" He added; lowering his head, eyes closed._

" _More so, he already had in his team of minions, this strange warlock who knew my grandmother in the past." She added, while throwing her boots at the same corner of his own; before passing her top above her head, only to throw it on the floor a second later. "Now, isn't it hypocrite of their parts?"_

_Kol opened one eye at her say, before abruptly strengthening himself on the armchair; his mouth hanging open._

" _What are you doing?" He questioned, speechless; while noticing her bra hitting the wooden floor a second later, her naked breasts exposed to his sight._

" _What does it look like I'm doing? I'm undressing myself." Bonnie rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "And you know what is even more infuriating?" She questioned more, while pushing her bottom down on her legs._

" _You mean, aside from the fact that you'll soon stand naked in front of my sight in my private bedroom, no, not really?" Kol frantically rose on his legs; with his eyes following each of her gestures._

" _The way they still wanted to keep all of this a secret, you know?" Bonnie added, while pushing her lace panties at her feet; standing naked as a glass in front of Kol's sight. "Isn't it getting on your last nerves?" She questioned, nodding. "Why are you standing there with your mouth opened? You should get undressed." She suggested._

" _Bonnie Bennet…" Kol pronounced her name in a low murmur, while swallowing a nervous lump in his throat. "What are you doing to me, woman?" He added, nervously passing his right hand through his tangled hair._

" _What? Don't tell me you've never seen a naked woman before?" She arched an eyebrow with shock. "In a thousand of years, I don't believe you!"_

" _Oh I've seen plenty; darling, but none of them were "you"!" He exclaimed, while pointing at her direction._

" _What? Don't tell me you're shy?" Bonnie smiled, biting into her bottom lip to retain a laugher; before pulling on the bed sheet to cover her middle parts._

" _I'm not shy, far from it!" Kol pointed once more, while pacing back and forth in front of his bed. "But, you're … You're… You're…"He stammered, not able to express his say._

" _Is this going to be long before you join me in bed?" Bonnie rolled her eyes to the ceiling; while slipping underneath the sheet to lie down on the mattress. "Oh this is heaven, after the train and plane "never ending" ride." She added, rolling on her stomach to place her head in both her joined hand, a smile blessing her lips. "Are you coming?"_

" _Well, I don't know how long it could take me to undress, you know? Will you fall asleep before my boxer reaches my knees?" He passed his tongue at her, while undressing himself at the speed of light, his erection spreading free from his underwear. God that woman was doing a number on him!_

" _That's highly unfair; I was exhausted that time it occurred." Bonnie responded, while sliding her fiery sight on the length of his naked body, a slight redness spreading on her cheeks._

" _Can I share the bed with you?" He asked, while raising the sheet to enter underneath it. "Hi!" He greeted, smiling; before slowly rolling in top of her._

" _Hi yourself…" She responded, while slowly sliding both hands on his bare muscular chest, before crossing her hands around his neck, her legs around his waist; only to feel his lips brushing hers a second later, gently positioning his hard and full erected member between her legs._

" _What no romantic prelude, Kol Mikaelson?" She mouthed the words; the tips of their tongues softly sliding inside-out their respective mouths, while brushing their parted lips._

" _Are you kidding me, with the risk of having you falling asleep in the next ten minutes, there's no fucking chance of that ever happening again, Bonnie Bennett!" He mocked, openly; a small laughter escaping his mouth._

" _So, let me get this straight, with you it doesn't last long?" She arched an eyebrow, amused. "That's ok, sweetie; there are a few associations that could help you deal with your impotency."_

" _Oh, you're so going to pay for that one, darling!" Kol rolled on himself, while bringing a laughing Bonnie, on a sitting position on his lap. "Work your magic, baby?" He suggested, while raising her hips in the air to position her entrance over his erection._

" _I thought you didn't want me on your lap anymore?" She teased, strongly aroused._

" _I'll make an exception for this time." He responded, smiling; while brushing her lips of a kiss._

_Bonnie slowly brought herself down on his hard length, loud moans escaping her parted lips at the mere moment he stretched and filled her to the hilt._

" _God Bonnie, you feel so good!" He exclaimed, while starting to rock in synchronized motions with her rhythm; both of his hands cupping her breasts, before softly stroking her erected nipples. "Don't you stop?" He growled, while lowering his hands on each side of her lips, to accelerate their thrusting pace._

" _I give you my words." She promised, before crushing her mouth on his; in a rapid buildup to reach their sexual release._

* * *

_Carolina entered her bedroom suite; slamming the door behind her back; soon followed by her husband, who reopened it, only to redo the same himself._

" _Carolina! Don't ever slam the door at my face again, you hear me?" Klaus pointed a forbidden finger in her direction._

" _Or you'll do what, Klaus? You'll act like the asshole that you were back at the cocktail?!" She spat the truth to his face; while furiously pulling both high heels shoes from her feet._

" _Oh don't you turn this around on me, Love! I wasn't the one who flirted openly with a bunch of ignorant men to attract my attention on you!" He lashed out back at her._

" _Obviously, you're flattering this huge ego of yours. I wasn't even aware of your presence in the room." She rolled her eyes, while thinking the liar she had suddenly became. "And I couldn't have cared less to tell the truth." Carolina shrugged, indifferent of his say; while entering the bathroom facilities._

" _Don't you dare leave this room in the middle of this argument, or I'll …" Klaus busted, furiously; before receiving the door on his nose, once more. "Carolina, open that damn door or I swear …" He added, while hitting his closed right fist on the wood panel._

_Only the silence responded the call of his loud voice. The hybrid grabbed his head with both hands, before starting to pace, back and forth, in the large space of the bedroom. That woman, his wife, had the special skill to boil the blood running inside his veins, and to trigger a sexual reaction in matter of seconds! Klaus thought to himself, while lowering his sight on his now tight crotch area. The only way to release his rage would be to drive his build-up erection in the deepness of her… hard, furiously, primitively… Like an animal, but he knew it wasn't permitted with Carolina, not after … that past night of their honeymoon._

_It was better for her to be free of him at the end of what would seem to be a very long road to get rid of all threats directed at his family. But for the time being, she was still "his" wife by name, and not a single man on this earth would claim her as "his" if he had something to say about it. It would certainly not be that Vittorio want-to-be warlock or any of the morons coming from his group of friends that would steal his wife from his claws!_

* * *

_The bathroom door finally reopened on its arch. Carolina passed the threshold while holding the evening gown in her arms. She had showered and was now dressed of a pink sweat pair of pants, and a white tank top that was showing her erected nipples through the cotton fabric._

_Klaus closed his fists and eyes, a small growl of frustration sound escaping his lips. He could easily imagine the cold water running between the valley of her breasts. He brought the glass of vodka to his lips, drinking its entirety in one single gulp. The fire spreading in his throat was a small release for the build-up misery in his mind. He had got rid of his tuxedo vest, pulled his tie away; had opened a few buttons of his shirt, with the sleeves rolled on his forearms._

" _If you want to use the bathroom; it's available now." Carolina mentioned, toneless; dropping the evening dress on a nearby chair, before raising both hands to pass her fingers through her tangled, damped curls._

" _If your ultimate goal is to drive me to my knees in desire for you, you're succeeding, Carolina." Klaus mumbled, angrily; between his teeth; while pouring himself another glass of vodka._

" _What?" Carolina turned on her heels, both closed fists placed on each side of her hips. "What is this game of yours this time, Klaus? Isn't you who clearly mentioned to me that you wanted out of this marriage, or did I dreamed it?"_

_Klaus winced at her say, while remaining speechless, the clear alcohol being poured into his throat in an additional single gulp._

" _Yah, drank your supposedly sorrows and pain, it's the only thing you can do anyway!" She busted, furiously. "You've been so good at playing the victim all your life. The poor bastard boy of his step-dad Mikael; now found by his biological one, Ludvig Petrov, but still not loved the way he would want to be loved."_

" _Shut up, Carolina; you know nothing about me!" Klaus lashed out, throwing the glass on the wall; broken pieces falling on the wooden floor._

" _I'm not scared of your tantrums anymore." Carolina raised her chin, in a confrontational gesture. "I have tried to love you with all my heart; but you have spitted your venom on the exchanged vows of our marriage. Decided that I was not worth of your time or attention or love, anymore." She added breathless. "I even wanted to be turned as a vampire to stand by your side for eternity, and still you've treated me like trash! I'm the only person who was able to love you unconditionally, the good, the bad, and the ugliest of your flaws!"_

" _No, no …" He shook his head, disoriented by Carolina's say. "I'm trying to protect you, don't you understand?"_

" _Protect me of what?" Carolina questioned, frantically_

" _I'm trying to protect you of myself, Carolina!" Klaus yelled, his voice echoing in the space of the room. "Don't you understand that I could hurt you, now, way more than on our wedding night?"_

" _Oh my God, how many times will you bring that event as poor excuse for yourself?" She stomped her feet on the floor, while grabbing her head with both hands. "I forgave you a long time ago, it's in the past. It's not supposed to build our future."_

" _But it's still what I am. A beast who most of the times, can't control his urges." Klaus tried to explain his dark side to her. "You couldn't even start to understand who I am, even if you would try."_

" _What urges?" Carolina inquired, swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _Nothing…" He shook his head. "Forget about it!"_

" _What urges?" She repeated her question, under clenched teeth; reaching his standing position, before unexpectedly cupping his crotch with her right hand. "Or don't you have the balls to tell me?" She lashed out; before pushing herself at arm length._

_Snap! The beast was out … Out to hunt his prey._

" _You did not just do that?" Klaus threated; his eyes darkening, a pernicious smile raising both sides of his lips._

" _What? You think I'm a damsel in distress? A prude who can't act her sexual fantasies? At least, I'm not hiding behind a façade!" Carolina raised her chin, confrontational._

" _You can't take all of me, all of my perversities; you would break like a porcelain doll." Klaus added, while taking a few calculated steps toward her standing position, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, before throwing the fabric on the floor._

" _Try me!" Carolina forced him out of his ivory tower. "Aren't married couples supposed to talk about sex? Learning what their spouse wants? What are those perversities, Klaus? You like it hard? You like to fuck by behind like an animal?"_

_In the time space of a few seconds, Carolina's body was thrown on the wall, both palms placed on the tapestry, with his own rigorously hitting her back._

" _Hard, and like a fucking animal; that's exactly how I like it." Klaus growled, his hands sliding underneath her tank top, only to cup her breast with his left hand, stroking her nipples to the point of intense pain; while his right hand pushed its way underneath the elastic band of her sweat pants and panties, before burying two fingers in her core, in fast and demanding thrusts._

" _Oh…" Carolina moaned in ecstasy, her body welcoming the sensual attack, the bruises, like a granted escape to finally reach freedom. This is what she had always wanted without knowing it. Klaus would never be tame; and in the deepness of her soul it's not what she wanted for the both of them. "Faster…" She demanded, in a low murmur; on the verge of her first release._

_Klaus played dirty while redrawing his fingers from the deepness of her swallowed, damped walls, before turning her body around under her loud cries of surprise, only to tore apart her tank top and pulling down on her legs both her sweat pants and panties. He pushed Carolina's body back on the wall, before pushing his tuxedo pants on the floor, soon followed by his pair of boxer, freeing his hard erection of its imprisonment. He finally grabbed Carolina's right wrist before bringing her hand to his cock._

" _Stroke it, hard!" He ordered, closed eyes; both forearms placed on each side of her head._

_She obliged with high anticipation; her fingers wrapping around its base; before stroking his shaft hard, her thumb robbing the tip for more pleasure._

" _Fuck Carolina!" Klaus growled, his head bending on the hollow of her left shoulder; his fangs slowly entering the thin skin of her neck; while triggering a small cry of pain from the deepness of her throat. He swallowed drops of her blood with delectation, before passing the tip of his tongue on the two holes, to close the small wounds, his right hand sliding down on her stomach to reach back her core, before rubbing her clit with as much intensity._

_This was way too much for the young novice! Carolina came in a loud cry of his name at the same time he turned her over to make her lie on her stomach, on the bedspread, entering her wet walls by behind, in a hard thrust to the hilt, her contractions enveloping his length while triggering the most intense sensations._

" _This feels so good … Oh Carolina, you're amazing!" He growled, while grabbing a hand full of her hair to pull her body toward his chest._

" _Don't stop …" Carolina begged him, panting. "Deeper, harder…" She ordered him._

_Was it really her voice she had just heard? Was this naughty way of expressing her needs even hers?_

" _Yes, Love." He obliged to her request; accelerating his pace, both hands cupping her breasts passionately, savagely… with a restraint drowning in oblivion._

_They finally reached their sexual releases, with a final push that threw them both in a lying position on the bed; Klaus still buried deep inside of Carolina's core, sighs of blissful contentment escaping their lips._

* * *

" _Damn you both!" Maria lashed out; furiously throwing her clutch evening bag on the bed, before lowering her head in both of her hands, if only to try regaining her calm over her buildup rage._

_She had left Petrov's party earlier than expected. With all the commotions, events and horrible news this evening had brought on the members of her family, she couldn't have endure more, even for one more second. Especially not the smug smiles plastered on both Mikael's and Petrov's faces._

" _They shouldn't affect you this way; they're not worthy of you, Maria." George commented, while pushing the door closed on its arch. "I don't even know how you came in contact with such jerks to start with."_

" _Oh you've startled me!" Maria turned on her heels to face the young vampire, hand raised over her chest._

" _I didn't mean to startle you; I thought you knew I was close by on your heels when you suddenly disappear from the dining room? I just rapidly exchange a few words with your son Elijah." George nodded, apologetically; before throwing his blazer on top of a nearby armchair. "You should always know that I'm watching over you, anticipating each of your steps, to keep you safe."_

" _Yes I knew you were close, and no, I wasn't aware that you'd follow me inside this bedroom … Oh, I don't know anymore…" Maria exclaimed, raising the back of her right hand over her trembling lips. "I'm just so furious at everything, this party for starter, and the new threat hovering my children's heads. And I'm furious at myself, most of all." She continued her ranting; while pacing back and forth on the length of the Persian rug placed at the foot of the bed, before holding her steps in front of a body-length mirror. Both of her cheeks were red like an apple; a few strands of hair were falling freely on her shoulders, from the bun placed on top of her head, and her eyes were sparkling with all the rage building inside of her. If she hadn't known better, she looked like a woman who had been kissed or was about to be kiss soon?_

_George took a few steps toward Maria's standing position, slowly pulling his tie away, opening the few first buttons of his man shirt, before rolling the sleeves on his forearms, before meeting her fiery sight in the mirror._

" _You need to relax; you're not helping yourself, or the situation, by worrying this much." He whispered, slowly raising both of his opened palms on the length of her arms, sensually sliding his fingers, from the tender inside skin of her wrists, upward to the soft curves of her shoulders; his chin resting on top of her head, with a smile spreading on his manly lips._

_**I need to relax, while you're brushing my skin in that … that … that sensual way? How in hell will I ever manage that?** _ _Maria thought silently, while letting a timid smile spread on her lips._

" _Thank you … George; for… I mean, for your friendship; it means a lot." She stammered, while swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _I'm not feeling too friendly at the present moment, to be entirely frank, Maria." George commented, raising the tip of one finger, upward on her neck, only to follow the length of her throbbing blue vein. "You're beautiful, in so many ways; it's maybe time a real man reminds you of your femininity; would you think so?" He added, removing the hair clips, one by one, both of his hands sliding on her long strands, while smelling their lilac scent. "I can only imagine you hair spread over a pillow, while you're lying naked on the bed."_

" _George … It's … It's highly …" Maria couldn't even finish her sentence, a fire spreading from the deepness of her core, to her chest and face._

" _Highly inappropriate, I know." George smirked, seductively; his right hand slowly sliding down the zipper of her burgundy velvet dress. "And it's about to get even more inappropriate, sweet, sweet Maria." He whispered, tenderly; pushing the fabric down on her upper arms, before bending his head to leave a trail of kisses on the left side of her neck._

" _Oh…" Maria moaned, loudly; eyes shutting under the intense range of shivers hitting her entire body all at once; with her head falling back on George's muscular chest._

" _Damn, you're so beautiful…" The bodyguard commented, his lips sliding upward to nibble on her earlobe, while pushing the dress down on her waist, hips and legs, leaving on a pile of luxurious fabric on the wooden floor. "God, I hated that dress so much." He commented, wincing. "You deserve to be treated like a Queen, certainly not toss like an object between two men, my love." He complimented, his hands rising from her waist line to the delicate curves of her full breasts dressed of a green matching silk bra and panties._

" _We can't … I can't do this!" Maria suddenly protested, vehemently; while reopening her eyes in shock._

" _Shush… You're doing this… We're doing this." George shushed her, while turning her body around, only to grab Maria's chin, his lips tenderly brushing hers; before softly pushing them toward the bed._

" _I'm … It's been too long; you'll be disappointed by me… I did not have any … I mean…" She stammered, an intense fire reaching both cheeks. "Oh my God, I stutter like a teenager, in her first date; how embarrassing?!" She raised both hands to cover her eyes._

" _I'm highly flattered." George commented, a big smile spreading on his lips, from ear to ear; while pushing her hands down on each side of her shivering body._

" _You're mocking me?" Maria replied. "I would mock myself actually!"_

" _Oh, my sweet Maria I could never mock you!" He shook his head, before softly kissing her forehead, only to cup her face with both hands a short moment after. "I am as nervous as you are, I can assure you." He tried to lower her stress level. "Do you want this? Do you want to be with me, tonight? Do you want me to share your bed? Because, it would be my greatest honor and I'm kind of horny too." He winked, teaser; while making Maria burst into laughter._

" _Yes… But, it's been a really, really long time." She confessed, once more; a timid smile rising on the corners of her red lips; both hands slowly raising on George's chest, to unbuttoned his shirt._

" _Me too…" He confessed, humbly, in return._

" _You don't have to lie for my account you know?" Maria blushed; while pushing the shirt down on his arms, only to drop the fabric on the floor a second later, her hands rose on his muscular chest to caress the skin in circular motions._

" _I'm not lying; it's been a while for me too." George shook his head, truthful. "I'm very selective; I want the best for myself."_

" _I'm far from being the best, George!" Maria shook her head, disagreeing with his say._

" _For me, you are…" He whispered, softly. "I like to feel your hands on my skin, Maria; I've dreamed of that moment for so long; I've dreamed of feeling your lips too." He added, hopeful._

_Maria approached a step closer, her lips tracing a trail of fire with her kisses, from George's neck, downward to his chest._

" _Yes, like that…" He growled; pushing the straps of her bra down on her upper arm, only to unhook the clip behind her back, before tossing the tiny piece of silk material on the floor. Both of his hands cupping her tender flesh, his thumbs stroking her hard nipples with dexterity, while pushing her body in a lying position over the bedspread._

" _Oh George…" Maria panted, head tilted toward the back, eyes closed, with both hands buried in his thick dark hair; while pushing his body in a nearer proximity of hers._

" _Yes, baby… I know…" George growled once more, his lips testing the softness of her breasts, while his right hand trailed down her flat stomach, lower pass the sheer fabric of her panties, feeling her wetness, before stroking Maria's folds with both urgency and tenderness. "Let me show you how wonderful you truly are."_

* * *

" _What are you doing here?" Rebekah inquired, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, before clapping her bedroom door panel on its arch. "Did you got lost or something?"_

" _Look what I found: bags of barbecue chips, chocolate chips cookies, bottle of wine, popcorn… Though, without a microwave, it won't serve any purpose." Stefan Salvatore shrugged, throwing the paper bag on the wooden floor. "And in addition, you have a naked man on your bed." He raised both eyebrows in a comical way._

" _You're fully dressed!" Rebekah commented, while throwing both of her high heels shoes at a corner of the room, with her clutch evening bag hitting a nearby chair._

" _Well, that could be easily remedied; you just have to ask kindly?" Stefan teased, playfully, winking in her direction._

_He knew "her" – He knew "Rebekah Mikaelson" as well as the sun that had rose in the sky for more than hundred years, for him. He knew that tonight she had felt like a lost child. He knew she needed to repair her broken wings and heart by seeking for "love" and "understanding" at the moment. He knew that she felt second best and misunderstood._

" _Please! I had enough with the vision of your brother's four members attached to a bedframe to last me a life time!" She shook her shoulders, wincing; before jumping on the bed, only to grab a bag of chips from Stefan's hands._

" _You'll crumple the fabric of your dress if you keep it on your back." Stefan commented, while burying his hand in the bag. "And you'll put crumbs everywhere."_

" _Hey! This is my bag of chips get your own! I couldn't care less about the dress; it's not mine after all." Rebekah shrugged, pulling the bag away from the vampire's reach; while leaning her upper body on the range of pillows behind her back. "And nice try about seeing my ass naked. It won't work, and it won't happen anytime soon, Salvatore."_

" _Not to point out the obvious, but I'm kind of already lying in your bed at the moment." Stefan smirked._

" _The only reason I'm allowing you to lie on this bed is because you brought me these." Rebekah pulled her tongue; while grabbing the bag of cookies from his hands. "Where did you find all this food, anyway?"_

" _I found them in the kitchen; where else?" Stefan informed her. "And … I also find… This!" He proudly raised a CD in the air._

" _The best of U2… How did you get your hands on this?" Rebekah exclaimed, happily, jumping into a kneeling position on the bed, while grabbing the cover._

" _I found it in one of the living rooms of this magisterial gothic mansion, near a player." Stefan shrugged. "I guess it might belong to Anastassia. I thought we could listen to it while eating and drinking our sorrow, before our species would disappear into thin air, because of the Catholic Church and a mutant names Augustine." He winked, mocker._

_Rebekah lowered her sight and head; her smile disappearing from her beautiful, angelic face; a veil of sadness covering her aura. Damn it Salvatore! Why did you have to mention Anastassia to her!_

" _You know what, I'll get rid of my tie; I'll roll my sleeves and…" He jumped off the bed, rushing toward the CD player placed on top of a dresser; while following his own say by throwing the tie away, and rolling his sleeves. Suddenly the first notes and lyrics of the song filled the silence of the room._

__**The heart is a bloom**  
Shoots up through the stony ground  
There's no room  
No space to rent in this town...

_**You're out of luck…** _

" _Come, dance with me?!" Stefan pulled Rebekah off the bed, before pulling the blonde vampire in the comfort of his arms, his right arm wrapped around her waist. "_

" _You're crazy, what are you doing?" She giggled, her hands raised over his chest; while following his dancing steps._

" _We're dancing … It is "U2", Shush now!" Stefan swung their bodies around the bedroom floor._

__**And the reason that you had to care**  
The traffic is tuck  
And you're not moving anywhere  
You thought you find a friend  
To take you out of this place  
Someone you could lend a hand  
In return for grace  
…

" _It's a beautiful day!" Stefan sang from the top of his lungs, completely off tune. "You should sing with me Rebekah…Sky fall, you feel like it's a beautiful day!"_

" _Oh my God… You're as bad you used to be back in the days! Please stop singing!" Rebekah busted into laughter._

" _What? No… What are you talking about?" Stefan protested, vehemently; while trying to hide his amusement. "You'll know, Miss Mikaelson, that Bono actually requested me to join their group back in … Was it 1982?" He added, before reprising his singing. "It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away, It's a beautiful day…"_

" _Oh no, stop it, please, I can't anymore." Rebekah cocked her head toward the back in the middle of her laughter. "You've always sang off-tune, even when you were in the shower; I had to plug my ears!"_

" _You think of me singing in the shower? I mean… You think of us, how we use to be…Sometimes?" Stefan asked, softly; while pushing a few of her loose strands behind her ears._

_Rebekah raised her sight in his dark eyes; swallowing a nervous lump in her throat; before pushing herself at arm length, only to turn her back at him._

" _I'm tired you should leave now, Stefan." She suggested, facing the bed, arms crossed over her chest._

" _You really want me to leave? Or you're mostly afraid of what might happen between us tonight?" Stefan questioned, while sighing loudly; both hands placed on each side of his waist._

" _Why? Would it be different this time around? You wouldn't leave me with a broken heart on the side of the road?" Rebekah turned on herself to face him, closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body._

" _You were a young, foolish girl then; and now, you've grown up to be an amazing woman." Stefan replied, gesturing with his hands. "Don't build our future on our past, Rebekah that wouldn't be fair for the both of us."_

" _You want to talk about fair? It's not like you've missed me the past years, anyway. Now, I'm just available to you, because there's nobody else!" Rebekah busted to his face._

' _Are you kidding me? I've missed you Bekah, more than you could ever imagine. Don't put words in my mouth, and feelings in my heart that are not the truth." Stefan lashed out back at her._

" _Leave!" Rebekah ordered, rushing toward the bedroom door, before opening the panel widely on its arch. "Now… Leave now!" She repeated, while reaching the opened window, before standing in front of the night sky, her vision blurred by her tears._

_She finally heard the creaking sound of the door panel closing on its arch. He had left!_

" _Stefan?" Rebekah frantically called; while turning on her heels, only to face the young vampire. "You're here, you didn't leave?" She added, tears filling her eyes._

" _No, I didn't leave, Bekah." Stefan responded. "You can yell at me, throw your high heels shoes at my head, I won't leave you, not this time… Not ever." He shook his head, taking a few steps to reach her standing position. "Turn around?" He asked, while grabbing her shoulders to slowly turning her body around._

" _Why?" Rebekah asked, nervously; an intense fire building inside her core._

" _So, I can undress you of this dress; and make passionate love to you." Stefan added, softly nibbling on her right earlobe, with his hands slowly lowering the zipper down. The tip of his fingers tracing an invisible line from her neck, downward to her back, waist, before reaching the soft curves of her bottom; where the thinnest black panties was testing his self-restrain at the moment._

" _It's not …" Rebekah let a loud moan escape her parted lips, hot shivers hitting her spine all at once. "It's not gentlemanly to not ask a lady prior to seducing her?" She added, panting._

" _You want me to beg, Rebekah?" Stefan smirked, his lips leaving a trail of kisses on her neck. "Fine… Can I rip your dress apart, Miss Mikaelson?" He whispered near her left ear, grabbing both straps before ripping the dress in pieces at her feet._

" _Oh…" She exclaimed, in shock; head falling back on his muscular chest, highly turn-on by lust._

" _Can I push the fabric of your bra to cup your delightful breasts, Miss Mikaelson?" He continued his pleading through soft murmurs, and hands gesture. "Can I stroke your hard nipples, Miss Mikaleson?" He added, naughtily; softly stroking with both thumbs. "Can I slide my right hand between your legs, underneath your panties to feel how damp you are for me, Miss Mikaelson?" He continued the road of seduction by sliding his fingers where he intended to follow his own say._

" _Oh … Stefan…" Rebekah yelled his name, before unexpectedly turning on her heels, only to face the burning desire in his gaze. "Make love to me, now!" She whispered, before crashing her mouth on his; their tongues swirling in their mouths in matter of seconds._

_She grabbed both sides of his shirt, before ripping the range of buttons apart; the fabric being pushed on their feet. Her hands caressing his muscular chest, while her long nails scratched his skin, playfully, delightfully, painfully…Before pushing him in a lying position on the bedspread, only to straddle his pelvic._

" _Well it took you long enough, Miss Mikaelson." Stefan smirked, before crashing his mouth back on her._

__**Touch me**  
Take me to that other place…  
Reach me  
I know I'm not a hopeless case…

* * *

" _U2? Well this song certainly brings back to me memories of better days mixed with debauchery." Ludvic commented, smirking; while hearing the song through an opened window of the manor, reaching the opened terrace where his Conrad from the past, was standing under the night sky. "As for you, this was certainly a new low, Mikael!"_

" _Oh shut up, would you?" Mikael growled, unhappy._

" _Here, I brought you an ice bag, and a Scotch!" Ludvic threw both the bag and glass in Mikael's hands._

" _You want me to bow in gratitude I suppose?" Mikael winced, while placing the ice on his bruised face._

" _A simple thank you would suffice, my friend." Petrov smirked, sipping his own glass, his sight narrowed on the stars above his head. "Your son landed a good swing into your jaw; you should be proud."_

" _Oh I'm proud alright." Mikael let a small laugh escape his lips. Such a spoiled brat that he is!" He added, teaser. "No respect for his patriarch."_

" _You have to admit that you've chased problems by attacking the lovely Katerina?" Petrov raised an eyebrow, while retaining a laugh in his throat._

" _Bastard that he is, did you see the gorgeous creature he managed to grab in his claws?! And to make things clear, I did not attack her; she fell on the stupid staircase! And it's not like she would have stayed a human, right?" Mikael rolled his eyes to the night sky; leaning his upper body on the guardrail. "Talking about bastard, your son has certainly managed to find his own blonde bombshell as well, would you say?"_

" _I would have not expected less of him." Petrov commented, a smile curving the right side of lips._

" _You do realize Ingrid is with her lover as we speak?" Mikael lowered his sight in the glass he was holding, a veil of sadness blurring his vision. "We're assholes!" He commented, before drinking the Scotch in one large gulp. "We've managed to both lose her."_

" _Obviously; it's something that I can even argue with you, which is pissing me off, big time!" Ludvig replied, mocker; while raising the bottle of scotch to refill Mikael's glass. "I loved her you know; truly … Truly loved her… I still do, in my own fucked up way. I most have loved her if she cost me my best friend?"_

" _It was my fault; I wasn't able to give her what she wanted the most." Mikael shrugged, fatalist._

" _And yet, she loved you." Petrov shrugged himself._

" _We're in deep shit, Ludvig!" Mikael growled, under clenched teeth._

" _That; I know." Ludvig replied, before raising his right hand to stroke his eyelids. "I thought the Vatican threat was behind us as of now. Obviously, I was sadly mistaking."_

" _I thought Augustine was dead? How truthfully misinformed I was." Mikael shook his head with annoyance plastered all over his face. "How will we all survive this time, Ludvig?"_

" _We won't, Mikael; but if we can save the majority of our species, it will be another battle that we would have won." Petrov answered, before hitting his glass with Mikael's._

* * *

" _ **What happened?" Yngve (Mikael) yelled, while rushing toward his wife who was coming down the narrowed path leading her to the village.**_

" _ **Finn… He almost drowned in the river!" Ingrid replied, while rushing into his arms.**_

" _ **I know, Elijah told me… I meant it as: is he alive – Is our son alive?" Mikael grabbed his wife's shoulders, his fiery sight locked with hers.**_

" _ **Yes, he's alive." Ingrid nodded, a timid smile spreading on her lips; her head turning toward the imposing man standing behind her heels; who was obviously holding their son Finn in his arms. "This is … This is Vlademar, sometimes named Ludvic also, he saved our son, Mikael." She turned her sight back to her husband, while slowly nodding her head, her right hand raised over his chest. "He came in peace; his camp is located on the other side of the bank. He's with his people."**_

_**Mikael narrowed his sight on the stranger, suspicion spreading in his mind; soon killed by a sense of loyalty toward the man who had saved his son's life.** _

" _ **He's breathing?" Mikael inquired, while taking his son from the man's arms.**_

" _ **His heartbeats are regular at the moment." Ludvig nodded his head.**_

" _ **Papa, mama … Is Finn alive?" Young Elijah rushed toward the small group; before throwing himself in his mother's arms. "Tell me, tell me…" He repeated, his eyes begging for reassurance.**_

" _ **He's alright; Elijah… your brother is alright." Esther smiled, brushing her son's forehead of a chaste kiss.**_

" _ **We'll bring him to the hut; prepare hot water and warm blankets, wife." Mikael ordered his wife, in a soft tone of voice, before turning his head toward the man who had rescued his son.**_

" _ **Yes." Ingrid nodded, before glancing a few seconds in direction of the stranger. "Come Elijah!" She grabbed her son's hand, before walking toward their hut.**_

" _ **Ludvig isn't it?" He questioned.**_

" _ **That's my name... My originated name is Vlademar… Call me as you wish." The rescuer confirmed, humbly.**_

" _ **A man who's changing his name has a lot to hide?" Mikael arched an eyebrow.**_

" _ **I guess you're right." The said man agreed.**_

" _ **I'm Yngve, My wife Ingrid and my son Elijah… And this is Finn." Mikael made the official presentation. "Well, Vlademar or Ludvig Petrov; I'll be forever in your debt for saving my son's life." He nodded, appreciative of the man's gesture.**_

" _ **It's what any honorable man would have done." Petrov replied, smiling.**_

* * *

" _I guess we need to bury the hatchet for the time being, if only to join our effort to combat Augustine?" Mikael reached out to Ludvig; his right hand presented to the host's sight._

" _It certainly feels like old time, Mikael, isn't it?" Ludvig shook his hand._

" _The past is always the weak whisper of the future, would you say?" Mikael replied, a smirk spreading on his manly lips._


	28. At first light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This story is, and will always be, a fiction story, that is coming from the imagination of the author. It is not a bibliography of the author or any of the readers, neither a story that is exploring your own experience in life. It is not meant to be informative or to represent the perception or opinion of the author about the subject at hands in her own private life; it is not an encyclopedia, or a medical reference. It is only a fiction, the characters are fictional, and the story should be taken as such and not be mistaken with the private life of the readers or any of their personal experiences. Thank you.
> 
> Writer's note: Due to the delicate subject, in some parts of this story that could seem abusive to some, please read with warning. Thank you.

_At the first rays of light, Elijah had silently dressed himself of a black, long sleeves t-shirt and a dark grey pair of jeans. He had peaked through the lace curtains, pushing the heavy ones first, to glance at the early exterior commotion. Petrov's men were obviously in operation "get on the route", with a few commando jeeps and cargo vans parked in front of the mansion._

_After his early inspection, he had replaced the curtains in place to not disturb what would probably be Katerina's last hours of sleep, and had slowly approached the bed, a tender smile blessing the manly curves of his lips._

_His wife had fallen asleep in the late hours of the night, comfortably resting in the comfort of her husband arms, with her head resting on his chest. Now, her long brown curls were scattered on the pillow, bed sheet lowered on the small of her back, with the tempting curves of her breasts resting on the silk fabric; eyelashes trembling under the intensity of her dreams. Was she dreaming of him? He could only wonder and hope at the same time._

_The Original approached the bed, slowly sliding the tip of his fingers on the silkiness of her skin. Who could have predicted the power that young Russian woman would have on him? The intense rush of love he would feel while just looking at her? What had happened between the two of them last night, was beyond desire and lust, it had pierced his soul, with Katerina's hot iron mark left on his heart. He was "hers" way more that she could ever be "his"._

" _I'm yours my sweet love…Always and forever." He whispered, tenderly; blessing the top of her head of a sweet kiss, before turning on his heels to leave the bedroom._

_**ooOoo** _

_The low creak sound of the door opening on its arch made Katerina startled in surprise. She suddenly rushed outside the luxury bathroom, a body towel wrapped around her chest._

" _I thought you'd left?" She exclaimed, a hand rose over her neck; unusual whiteness filling her complexion. "I mean, I wasn't sure where you were?"_

" _Leaving you…What kind of a fool do you think your husband is after the time we had shared together last night, Katerina?" Elijah replied, winking playfully at his wife; raising a few blood bags in his hands, before dropping them on the nearby dresser. "I went to find blood for you. Take your time with this." He explained, calmly. She had promised to try to conform herself to blood bags, but he knew it was still a sour subject for her. At the same time, Katerina was a woman of words, and she would try; of that he was certain._

" _I thought that maybe last night had been too much for you, that you wouldn't see me the same way at first light?" Katerina lowered her head, redness filling both her cheeks._

" _And what way is that, my love?" Elijah questioned, reaching her standing position; slowly sliding his right hand behind her neck to bring her in a closer proximity of his heated body, his lips brushing her forehead._

" _You're the only man able to spread shivers down my spine with a simple forehead kiss." She confessed, humbly; closing her eyes to wrap herself of her husband scent._

" _I'm a blessed man then." He responded, smiling. "You've spread fire inside my veins, Katerina; filling me with desire and love that could only be consume in your arms." He whispered, raising her chin with his lips mouthing the tender words on hers. "I thought we've agreed to never put ourselves down again?" He searched the truth in her eyes._

" _Yes, Elijah; we did." Katerina nodded, a ghost of a smile spreading on her lips. "I never thought you would fall for me, never!" She shook her head, still in disbeliefs. "But…" She closed her eyes, tears filling her eyelids. "I fell for you so hard; I'm so in love with you that each day I'm so afraid of losing you, because I would die inside if ever you would leave me."_

" _This is not falling, beautiful, you're my wife, my home, my life; it's me who doesn't deserve you, Katerina." He confessed, himself; cupping her beautiful face with both hands. "You'll never lose me, my love; we're "one", now and forever." He added, slowly turning her around to face the foot length mirror, before releasing the clips in her hair; brown cascade of curls falling freely on her shoulders._

" _What are you doing?" Katerina questioned._

" _Brushing your hair… Something I've always wanted to do since the first day I laid my eyes on you." Elijah replied, a smile spreading on his lips; while starting to softly brush her scalp. "We need to get going; Petrov prepared a convoy of commando jeeps outside."_

" _I know I saw the commotion and the convoy." She nodded. "Do you remember the first day I saw you myself, I had the idiotic thought that you were old?" Katerina commented, laughter escaping her lips; while closing her eyes to appreciate his soft caresses in her hair. "Please, don't stop – It is heaven, Elijah!"_

" _I don't intend to stop, beautiful." Elijah whispered, brushing the top of her head of a kiss. "Well; technically you were right, I'm the oldest man you must have met; with the exception of my siblings." He teased. "And now, what do you think of your husband?" He asked, wondering._

_Katerina reopened her eyes, slowly turning on her heels to face the man she had fallen deeply in love with, before grabbing the hairbrush from his hands, only to drop it on a nearby side table._

" _Now I think you're the sexiest bastard I could have found myself." She replied, mocker; fisting his t-shirt with both hands. "And dress like this, without your three pieces suit, I could seriously do some serious damage to my husband, if we didn't need to leave as soon as possible, that is."_

" _I hold you up to those words; and I will remind them to you later." Elijah winked, playfully; pulling on her body towel to drop it on the wooden floor a second later, before grabbing a set of clean clothes she had prepared or and dropped on a nearby chair. "I'll dress you up now." He informed, while grabbing a pair of panties. "Slide your legs in the openings?" He suggested, kneeling in front of Katerina's naked body._

" _What? Elijah, I … I don't understand… What are you doing?" She inquired, while obeying his order nonetheless; holding her equilibrium with both hands resting on his shoulders._

" _What? You think there's only pleasure in undressing you, Katerina?" Elijah smirked. "Then, how little you know about how perverted your husband can be?" He added, playfully; sensually raising the lace fabric on the length of her legs, his hands sending a fire deep down inside her core._

" _Oh God, you'll be the death of me, Elijah Mikaelson!" Katerina moaned, softly._

" _No beautiful; it's you who'll be the death of me." Elijah replied, raising the fabric on her butt, before softly kissing the soft skin of her belly._

* * *

_Klaus Mikaelson leaped in his sleep, trail of sweats rolling down his forehead, with a cold shiver hitting his spine… Was it a bad dream or a strange premonition, he couldn't remember or say? Carolina? Where was "his" wife?_

" _Carolina?" The call escaped his lips in a low cry, with wide opened eyes._

_The silent space was filled with the first light of sunshine infiltrating the bedroom by the curtains. He frantically scattered the room, finally hearing the soft moan escape "her" lips, before feeling the warm of her body reaching for his heat. She was here! In the comfort of his arms and his call hasn't waked her up… Thank goodness!_

_Incoherent words escaped Carolina's lips; while her left leg wrapped itself around Klaus's pelvic area, her left hand roaming on his muscular chest. She looked comfortable and at ease with herself, while lying in his arms._

_What had happened last night? Did he abuse her once again? He raised his left hand to stroke his eyelids in hope of regaining his short memory, before laying his forearm on top of his eyes. No, no … It wasn't like that, not this time around. Carolina had responded to his perverted passion with the same lust filling the blood in her veins. She had surprised him with her reckless erotic demands and response to his own sexual fantasies. She was his better half in every ways possible. But, was he deserving of her, or was she simply morphing into what she thought he wanted from her?_

" _If you continue to pout crazy ideas in this head of yours, and pull yourself away from me, like you're doing now, Klaus Mikaelson; I'll have no other choices but to find the sharpest knife in this mansion and cut your manhood in so many pieces that you won't be able to put your cock back together!" He heard Carolina's sharp threat before turning his glance toward his wife, a surprised and speechless expression plastered on his face._

" _What?" He questioned, dazed beyond belief; before bursting into loud laughter. "Oh Love; are you even for real?"_

" _I'm not joking you jerk!" Carolina busted, while hitting his chest of her closed fists. "Don't do this to me again, Klaus!" She warned, once more. "Or I swear that I'll do it!"_

_The Originals suddenly rolled on himself, trapping both of Carolina's wrists in a firm grip of his left hand above her head; his body pushing her own with its weight._

" _What if… What if I'm right to worry about you, Carolina? What if last night was a new experience for you, but not what you would really want on the long term?" Klaus warned her, his right hand sliding on the soft and tempting curves of her breasts, softly pinching their tips while sending a mix of pain and pleasure down her spine. "I'm a beast, Carolina; what is telling me that you could handle me, that you could handle my sexual needs and appetite?"_

" _You're an asshole!" Carolina lashed out to his face. "What is telling you that it's not what I wanted and still want too, except for the fact that you're too much of a coward to even take a chance and find out?" She added, angrily. "But that would mean giving all of yourself to me, and stop being the victim like you've always loved to be. Isn't it frightening to know that another human being can have this power over you?"_

" _What is telling you that I won't physically hurt you again, Carolina? Last night, I've pushed your sexual boundaries; and you've accepted it. But, what is telling me that you will next time?" Klaus mumbled, angrily; between his teeth. "Tell me, did I hurt you last night? Or were you just pushed to meet me half-way?" He demanded an answer, painfully striking her erected nipples._

" _Oh…" She let a moan of pleasure escape her lips, while closing her eyes. "No, you didn't … I mean, yes…"_

" _Which one is it, Love; yes or no?" Klaus wondered, suddenly so worried he could have physically hurt her._

" _Yes, you've hurt me last night, in the sense that I'm not even certain that I'll be able to walk straight today." Carolina teased while reopening her eyes to meet his fiery sight, a ghost of a smile blessing her full lips. "And yes, you're hurting me now, because the only thing I can think is for you to be in me again, and you're doing your damn best to pushing me away, and not giving me what I want!" She busted, unhappy._

_Klaus released his grip on his wife's wrists, nervously passing a hand over his face to calm himself down. He couldn't think straight anymore, she was holding him by the balls… Literally!_

" _You do not believe me? You do not believe my words to you? You think this is not what I want also, because I was unexperienced, and because I made you believe that I wanted the perfect fairy-tale with the perfect prince?" Carolina arched an eyebrow, before grabbing his left hand, only to slide it between her legs. "Does this feel real to you then? How much I'm dripping of wetness for my husband? How since I wake up the only thought that was filling my head was for you to fill me up into my core until it would hurt with the kind of pain that merge rapidly into pleasure?"_

" _Damn you, Carolina… Damn you!" Klaus growled, loudly; his head buried into the hollow of her right shoulder, while his lips left a trail of fire on her neck; with his wandering fingers caressing her wet folds, before slowly sliding two of them, deep inside her walls._

" _Come inside me, Klaus, or I'll die!" She exclaimed, both hands grabbing the longer locks at the base of his neck, like her life depended on it._

_And then she felt him between her legs, stretching her entrance, filling her in a single thrust to the hilt, that left her panting and screaming for more._

_**ooOoo** _

_Klaus raised the warm cup of coffee to his lips. He had dressed himself of a pair of dark jeans and a white t-shirt and was now standing in front of the bedroom window, sliding the curtains to take a good look at the outdoor commotion that was taking place in front of the mansion._

" _Will you turn me one day?" Carolina questioned, while standing at a few feet of distance from his own standing position, fully dressed of a pair of jeans and a black sweater._

" _I don't know." Klaus responded, truthfully; while turning his head to take a glimpse at his wife._

" _Do you want to turn me one day?" She continued to question._

" _Is it the one hundred questions game, Carolina?" He sighed loudly at her stubbornness._

" _I just … I just want you to be frank with me for once?" She shrugged, while rubbing her hands together._

" _Yes, I want to turn you one day." Klaus nodded, while swallowing a lump in his throat. "But, I'm also against it." He confessed._

" _Thank you for your truthfulness." Carolina addressed her husband a smile. "What is going on?" She wondered, reaching his standing position; before encircling his waist with both arms; her head resting on his chest._

" _Petrov is planning a gateway mission, apparently. I guess we should get outside." Klaus informed, lowering his sight to his wife, only to grab Carolina's chin to bless her parted lips of a kiss. "Do you even know what you're getting yourself into with me, Love?" He questioned, before kissing her again._

" _Mm…" Carolina moaned the sound over his full lips. "Let me see? Pure bliss of happiness, best sex ever, and I suppose a few jousts when you'll be too stubborn to allow me to be right? Am I even close?" She teased, a smile spreading on her lips. "I love you." She finally confessed, before brushing her lips on the left side of his neck. "I had no idea what that meant before meeting you, Klaus Mikaelson."_

_Klaus closed his eyes, the warmest feeling filling the deepness of his soul. Not only this young human woman was holding him by the balls, but she was holding his heart as well!_

" _I love you too, Carolina Petrova Mikaelson." Klaus confessed, eyes closed; a single tear rolling on his left cheek. "But I perfectly know that I don't deserve this, I don't deserve you."_

" _Shush!" Carolina shushed him, while placing one finger in top of his lips. "I prefer when you're silent and kiss me." She commented, before rising on the tips of her toes to brush his lips._

* * *

" _You were not permitted to leave the bed, Miss Bennett! Not before I could at least make you scream one more time." Kol smirked, glimpsing at her naked silhouette placed in front of the lace curtains, while lying comfortably on his chest, both arms raised over his head, on the pillow. "And, could you push yourself away from the window! I don't want Petrov's men to take a look at_ **my girlfriend** _'s naked body." He growled, unhappy._

" _Who says that I'm your girlfriend, Kol? That's what you think because we've slept together? For your guidance, nobody else was available, I was bored – We had a hook-up." Bonnie shrugged, playfully; pushing the lace curtain to take a better look at the commotion in front of the mansion. "You should take a look at what is going on outside. There's a convoy of commando jeeps placed in front of the gate."_

" _I will as soon as I'll push your beautiful naked body away from the "open-view"!" Bonnie heard the soft whisper and felt the warm breath brushing her earlobe, two sets of strong hands pushing her back into the bedroom._

" _Hey! You're not my keeper, Kol Mikaelson; I'm my own woman!" Bonnie busted, both closed fists placed on each side of her waist._

" _Last night, you've decided to give yourself to me, therefore you became "my" woman, Bonnie – And I hate for all these perverts to take a look at what is mine." Kol replied, while sliding the curtains to take a good look at the excitement that was taking place outside the mansion's walls. "Petrov is preparing an obvious "get the fuck away from here" mission." He added, while pushing the curtain in front of the window; before turning his attention back to Bonnie. "Now where were we, gorgeous?"_

" **Your** _woman… As in:_ **your possession** _? You are kidding, right? It's one of your many missed jokes, I suppose?" Bonnie crossed her arms in front of her naked chest, while stomping her bare right foot on the wooden floor. "And you were standing naked as the day that you were born in front of the said window as well, what's the damn difference?" She lashed out, angrily. "No one was even looking at the window; they are too busy following Petrov's orders."_

" _Well, it's only fair these gentlemen take a look at the Adonis that I am, and felt a pinch of regret in their hearts, realizing that they are not remotely looking as good as me." Kol grinned, while sliding both hands on the length of his body. "After all, certain parts of my anatomy are way above average, would you say, darling?" He winked at the young witch. "You seemed to have enjoyed one particular part last night, or am I mistaking?"_

" _What an asshole you are, Kol! I can't even process it." Bonnie shook her head in disbelief, before turning on herself to scatter the bedroom to find her clothes. "And cover yourself for God sake!" She threw to his face his pair of jeans._

" _So, let me get this straight? It's ok for you to wander around naked; while driving me insane with desire for you?" Kol grabbed the fabric, while tossing it on the bed. "But, it's not ok for me to do the same?"_

" _I'm a free spirited girl; I've always wander around naked inside my own place." Bonnie shrugged. "Gosh! What am I going to put on my back? These have been worn for two days in a row already?" She pouted, while throwing the clothes at her feet._

" _Ask the girls, there must be something in their suitcases they could share with you." Kol offered the solution, while grabbing an extra pair of jeans and t-shirt from a near backpack bag. "Or… You could wear your "boyfriend" clothes, and get me hard as a rock while knowing that my clothes are touching every inches of your delightful flesh, darling?" He winked, while handing her a set of clean clothes, boyfriend cut jean and white t-shirt._

" _How come you got these?" Bonnie asked, redness filling both of her cheeks. That man had a way to get her hot and bothered in a time space of a few seconds, mostly with his seductive smile. And she was not about to give in on him so easily. Even, if last night has been one of the best experiences at having sex she had ever had until now._

" _It's from my dear brother "I think of everything" Elijah. He thought of bringing spare clothes for his youngest sibling." Kol informed Bonnie, evasively. "You take them or not?" The offer won't last forever you know?" He pushed her boundaries._

" _I'll take them, Jerk! And this is just because I don't want to pass one additional day in my used ones." Bonnie pulled the clothes away from his hands, while forbidding herself to look at Kol's naked body. "Do you have an additional leather belt? Or I'll obviously lose the jeans on my hips, down my legs!"_

" _It's coming right up, darling!" Kol grabbed one, before walking back toward the young witch standing position. "You want me to spank you with it?" He winked, playfully. "We could spice our sexual life a little bit?"_

" _We don't have a "sexual life" and no, I want to get dressed, and obviously get outside to meet with the others." She replied, while snatching the belt away from his grip; turning on herself to dress herself._

" _You're crazy about me, admit it, Bonnie Bennett?" Kol whispered, sliding both hands around her waist, while gluing his naked flesh to her back._

" _Kol, we don't have time for an "encore"!" Bonnie sighed loudly, a range of shivers hitting her spine; while an intense fire reached her core. "Please?" She begged, eyes closed; with her head falling on his chest._

" _I'll stop only if you'll admit that you're my girlfriend?" The original demanded. "If not; I'll take you on this wall, and I am not joking, Bonnie Bennett. You've played too much with my sanity the past few months." He added, before cupping both her butt and breasts._

" _No; I won't admit to that – Can we settle for: We're having fun together for the time being?" Bonnie tried to offer a plea bargain._

" _Nope, not interested in fun for the time being… I want all of you, all the time darling." Kol whispered, his lips brushing her skin while leaving a trail of fire on her neck. "I guess I'll have to remind you how good we can be then – wall it is?" He started to push the witch toward the wall placed behind their backs._

" _No, no … We have no time for this, Kol!" She turned on herself, placing both hands on his muscular chest to hold his momentum._

" _Then admit it, you're mine?" He narrowed his sight on the brunette._

" _Would you settle for: I'm yours now?" She raised her chin, in a confrontational gesture._

" _With a kiss I would." Kol grinned, before pulling Bonnie in a kissing embrace that left her hot and begging for more._

* * *

_Anastassia strengthened her upper body on the bed, stretching her arms above her head before taking a quick glance at her lover, who was soundly asleep by her side. She let a seductive grin appear on her pulpous lips, biting into her bottom one; redness filling both of her cheeks._

_Damon Salvatore has proved to be an amazing lover, meeting halfway her own sexual appetite and needs in the most unexpected ways, while providing her intense satisfaction and a sore body upon waking._

_But with the first light came the delusions of facing the morning after, and the rude awakening to the real life. Damon had been a great one night stand; but her life was awaiting her. But, maybe one last glimpse at what she was missing wouldn't kill anyone? She wondered to herself, before raising the bed sheet to stare at the naked body of the Apollo who had shared the bed with her last night. Yes Damon Salvatore had been blessed with the right kind of equipment to satisfy a woman like her, but she had no time to dwell on the fact that he was probably the kind of man she had looking for all her life:_

_She very carefully pushed the bed sheet at her feet, jumping out of bed, before silently grabbing her evening dress, shoes and clutch bag; only to get dress and direct her steps toward the bedroom door a few minutes after._

" _Where are you going baby?" Damon woke up, eyes half-opened; while stretching his arms above his head. "Come back to bed with me."_

_Damn! Why was he so damn hot and sexy?_

" _Thanks for last night, Damon; you were more than a good fuck … A real threat really, now I have more urgent matters to take care...Tata!" Anastassia played her role to the perfection, while waving her perfect manicured fingers at the young vampire, before turning the handle to rush into the corridor._

" _What the fuck, Anastassia?" Damon jumped out of bed, naked as the day he was born; before storming out of the bedroom to walk behind her heels._

_Don't make him follow me; don't make him follow me… She recited the silent prayer to herself, while accelerating her pace. It did not take long for Damon to reach the Russian bombshell, and to push her on the wall with a strong grip of his hands on both her upper arms._

" _Where are you going? Why are you running away from me?" He inquired, while drowning his fiery sight in hers._

" _What? Oh don't tell me you thought that sleeping with me would allow you to controlling me, Damon?" Anastassia let laughter escape her lips. "You're such a sexy fool; I took what I wanted from you, now you can do … Whatever you want, as long as it doesn't involve me."_

" _You're lying, baby… I could tell that you felt something last night, as much as I felt it." Damon grabbed Anastassia's chin, raising her head and sight higher to meet his own glance. "It's more than sex and you perfectly know it."_

" _You're delusional, Damon." The redhead shrugged, nervously swallowing a lump in her throat. "And you're standing naked in this mansion, with cameras looking at your ass at the moment; you're making a spectacle of yourself."_

" _I don't care, they must have seen me tied to your bed a few nights ago, it's not like this will be much different, is it, Anastassia?" Damon pushed her boundaries. "I am way more interested in the "why" you were looking at my naked self underneath the bed sheet this morning if you're not interested?" He softly whispered, his lips brushing her left earlobe. "You were hot for me, weren't you? You wanted nothing more than waking me up, and for me to tie your wrists to the headboard like I did last night, admit it? But, you're too afraid! God forbid Anastassia Petrov would admit such a thing." He added, while sliding his hot lips on her neck, down on her cleavage._

" _I don't know what you're talking about, Damon?" She lied through her teeth, redness reaching both of her cheeks, while an intense range of shivers hit her spine and a more intense fire the deepness of her core. "Please, let me go; we're leaving in about an hour; my father prepared a convoy of vehicles, take a look outside if you don't believe me!"_

" _I don't give a fuck what your father do, wants or orders, I just want … I just want you, damn it!" Damon grabbed her head with both hands, forehead against forehead; soft breaths mixing together. "You're in my blood, I'm under your spell, you have bewitched me, Anastassia; and believe me not a lot of girls have managed that feat."_

" _Damon… I…" Anastassia closed her eyes, breathless._

_A discreet cough made them both startled, before turning their heads simultaneously, toward the intruder._

" _Alexay?" Anastassia pushed Damon at arm length._

" _I did not see anything, Anastassia; and "no", before you ask, I won't repeat this … Let's call it "encounter" to your father." Petrov's right arm man rolled his eyes to the ceiling; while avoiding looking at Damon's nakedness. "The convoy is ready; your father wants you ready in about an hour."_

" _Thank you." She let a sigh of relief escape her lips. "This is not what you think it is, please believe me?"_

" _Of course it's not. I was born yesterday." Alexay rolled his eyes once more. "Now if you don't mind, Mister Salvatore; I would gladly appreciate if you could put this pair of pants to cover … Well; what's need to be covered, obviously." He winced; while throwing Damon's pants to his face._

" _What… You never saw a man naked before, Alexay?" Damon growled, while sliding his legs in his pair of pants._

" _In Russia, Mister Salvatore; men do their private things… Well… privately." Alexay replied, while crossing his arms in front of his chest._

" _You hear that, Anastassia, In Russia…" Damon repeated, while turning his glance toward the empty corridor; the redhead had vanished while leaving him to his fate._

" _And it's rare that our women leave us half-naked in the middle of a corridor." Alexay added, smirking; before passing by Damon's side to lead his walk to the opposite side._

_Damn her! Damn him! Damn this country!_

* * *

_Maria's heavy eyelids slowly rose at the first light of the morning sun, her blurry vision meeting a set of brown eyes and a sincere smile._

_She pulled the bed sheet over her naked chest, redness filling both of her cheeks; before returning a timid smile to the gorgeous man lying in her bed, by her side._

" _I was right you know." George commented in a low murmur, his head rose on his right upper arm and hand._

" _What… I mean, what were you right about?" Maria raised the bed sheet higher, on her neck._

" _You're even more beautiful with your hair spread all over the pillow." He replied, before placing a loose strand behind her left ear. "So beautiful…"_

" _Stop George, please…You're making me feel uncomfortable." She begged him, raising the sheet even higher. "You don't need to make small talk to me. I'm not a fragile flower that you need to pamper at the first light of the day, after a … What is it called? Oh yes … A one night stand?"_

" _What in the name of God, Maria?" George exclaimed, nervously passing his right hand through his tangled black curls. "And stop pulling the sheet over your head; you're hiding nothing that I did not see last night!" He grabbed the large piece of fabric, lowering it down on her waist in a strong pull; before rolling on top of her, and holding both of her wrists above her head. "Why are you ashamed of what we did?"_

" _I'm… I'm not, why… Why would you even think that?" Maria stammered nervously._

" _You're hiding yourself from my sight, Maria!" George replied. "Haven't you realized by now, how much I'm attracted to you? How much I want to be with you?"_

" _It's… It's a difficult time for all of us, and … Maybe, you needed comfort? Like a motherly figure by your side, and you've mixed all these emotions in your head?" Maria swallowed a lump in her throat._

" _So, I'm in need of a motherly figure then?" George repeated her say, a devious smirk raising both sides of his manly lips. "Is this feel motherly to you?" He lowered his mouth on her neck, down on her breasts, before softly striking the tip of her erected nipples with the tip of his tongue._

" _George, please?" She moaned, arching her back for more of his display of affection; eyes closed with her head bended toward the back._

" _I prefer when you're begging me this way, Maria." The bodyguard growled, sensually; releasing his grip on Maria's wrists, her hands suddenly reaching the base of his neck to bring her lover in a nearer proximity of her breasts, while her legs suddenly encircled his waist. "Beg, I want to hear your pretty lips beg me for more?" He suggested._

" _This is wrong, so wrong…" She shook her head on the pillow._

" _Says who?" George raised his head to glance at her._

" _The age difference… I mean; you could be my son, do you realize that fact, George?" Maria presented her major argument redness filling her cheeks once more. "We could … We could, as adults, forget that this ever happen, and stay friends?"_

" _Not that again!" He rolled his eyes to the ceiling, his head resting in the hollow of her left shoulder. "Your argument is invalid, my dear; and if you think I would toss you aside after the night of passion we just shared, you're sadly mistaking, woman!" He added, before nipping at her neck. "I'm old enough to know what I want; and what I want is "you"!"_

" _How is that argument even invalid?" She questioned, a soft moan escaping her lips._

" _Well; granted that I've probably found the grandma of all female vampires for myself? How old are you in vampire years? You're more than a thousand years old, right?" George mocked openly, laughter escaping her lips._

" _This is not funny!" She protested, vehemently._

" _What do you want me to say? We're immortal; of course your argument is invalid!" George lowered his head to softly kiss her parted lips. "You want to be technical? Fine! Let's be technical … How old were you when you'd turned? I mean in human years?" He questioned more._

" _It's been so long, I don't even remember?" Maria questioned herself, while striking her eyelids. "I must have been around 38 years of age, I think?"_

" _I was 30! Can we rest the subject now? We are even in the same decade!" George concluded, while grabbing her chin in his right hand._

" _Who would want the heavy baggage that I'll bring into the relationship? I don't even remember my past!" She lowered her sight, ashamed of herself. "Did you even take a look at my children; or at my demented family?"_

" _Me! I want you and all the heavy baggage you'll bring with you. And as for your past, you don't need it. You'll build your future with me." He reassured her with an additional kiss. "And, considering that one of them is my employer; I would say yes – I took a very good look at your children!" He teased._

" _Don't make fun of me!" She hid her face behind both hands._

" _Oh baby! I want to do a lot of things to you, but making fun of you is not one of those." He winked, seductively._

_A discreet knock on the door made them both startled in surprise._

" _Maria? I mean, Mother? Are you decent?" Elijah's voice crossed the door panel. "I need to talk to you?"_

" _Throw me my dressing gown!" Maria rolled on herself, before jumping promptly out of bed. George copied her gesture, before throwing the silk piece of fabric to his lover._

" _Yes, I'm decent, just a second Elijah; I'll open the door for you." Maria mumbled, between her teeth, tying the silk belt of her dressing gown; while her lover quickly dressed his legs of his pair of pants._

" _No need for you to bother, Maria; I'm here to tell you that …" Elijah opened the door, before closing it behind his back, only to come nose to nose with his bodyguard and mother, both standing at the foot of the bed, with their arms awkwardly crossed over their chests. "Oh… I'm coming in a bad time, obviously? I thought you've said that you were decent, I …" He rapidly turned his back on them. "I'm so sorry; I knew that George, I mean… He … He was supposed to keep an eye on you under my strict orders. Obviously, I should have known?" He stammered, nervously, both hands placed on each side of his waist. Damn! Why did he open the damn door?_

" _Oh I can assure you that I've kept an eye on your mother, Mister Mikaelson." George promptly reached for his shirt._

" _Yes, I would even say both eyes and hands." Elijah commented, nervously._

" _Elijah, We … I mean…" Maria tried to save the day; nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _No really, Maria; don't say another word, it's me who should explain myself." George cut her momentum._

" _What if we don't even address the subject?" Elijah proposed while turning back on himself to face both of his interlocutors._

" _My intentions toward your mother are the most honorable." George confirmed. "Of that single fact, you can be certain."_

" _I never thought otherwise, George. And frankly, this relationship should only concern you and my mother." Elijah expressed, politely; while avoiding his mother's glance. Walking on a private moment between his mother and her lover had been enough of an ordeal to fill his dreams, or nightmares, for weeks to come! "I wasn't able to hide behind a green plant this time, Maria; my deepest apologies for my unwanted presence on you both, in such an impolite way." He presented his apologies, a slight teaser._

" _Hide behind a green plant?" George wondered, repeating his boss's say, while glancing rapidly at Maria._

" _Oh, it's simply another awkward past moment between me and my son." Maria responded, a small laugh escaping her lips. "Do I … I mean, do we have your blessings, Elijah?" She questioned, hopeful and timorous at the same time._

" _Oh for God sake mother, you're old enough to make your own decisions, aren't you?" Elijah rolled his eyes. "I've already implied to George that I wasn't against his … Well, his obvious sentiments toward you. I just never thought it would come so soon… never mind!" He added, mostly uncomfortable. "He seems to be the loyal type and I doubt he would make you lose your memory?"_

" _No Sir, I'd never disrespect your mother in such a vain way; I'll take care of her like she's the most precious treasure in my life. I can promise you that." The bodyguard nodded, in respect._

" _Thank you, Elijah." Maria replied, tears filling her eyes._

" _I don't know for what you're thanking me for?" Elijah nodded, nonetheless. "Ok, I presume the case is close then." he rapidly turned on his heels, to reach the door handle. May this awkward moment come to an end! "We're evacuating the mansion in a half hour. Petrov reassured me that transportation would be waiting for us on the route, in front of the house." He added, before exiting the bedroom, faster than a ray of light!_

* * *

_A long and loud sigh of relief escaped the Original's lips when the bedroom door was finally closed on its arch with him standing in the corridor. May this uncomfortable encounter never repeat itself!_

" _We need to inform mother we're leaving!" The hoarsely voice of his brother Nicklaus cut the empty space like a dagger; while his dark silhouette approached Elijah's standing position._

" _No, no …There's no need it's been done!" Elijah intercepted Klaus's hand on the door handle._

" _You've talked to her?" Klaus wondered, narrowing his sight on his brother._

" _Yes, she'll be out in a few minutes." Elijah nodded, coughing; uncomfortably._

" _What brother? Did you swallow a cat or something?" Klaus teased, smirking. "Nevertheless, I'll exchange a few words with her, only to present my apologies for my bad behavior yesterday night."_

" _No, it's not necessary!" Elijah pushed Klaus at arm length of the door handle._

" _For fuck sake, what's your damn problem, Elijah?" Klaus inquired under clenched teeth._

" _Greetings, brothers!" Kol approached his siblings' standing positions, a sarcastic smile plastered on his face. "I've heard we're leaving on the run with uncle Petrov today?"_

" _Oh you got to be kidding me, like I needed you in top of everything!" Elijah stroked his eyelids, exasperated._

" _What's Lijah's problem this morning?" Kol glanced toward Klaus, shrugging his shoulders. "He's grumpier than usual, or is it me?"_

" _For a reason that I'm not certain, our dearest one, here present, is forbidding me the access my mother's bedroom!" Klaus lashed out._

" _What's going on brother?" Kol inquired._

" _Could you just lower both of your voices for God sake?" Elijah grabbed both brothers by the upper arms to drag them toward the staircase._

" _Hey? What's your problem, damn it?" Kol snatched his arm away from Elijah's firm grip._

" _She has …" Elijah closed his eyes, before taking a big breath inside his lungs. "Our mother has "company"."_

" _I'm going to kill that bastard!" Klaus busted, furiously; turning on his heels to rush back toward the corridor._

" _No, wait!" Elijah stopped him on his momentum. "It's not Petrov!"_

" _Fuck then; I'll kill Mikael myself!" Kol exclaimed, both closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _It's not Mikael either!" Elijah reassured the youngest of his brothers._

" _It's a little early in the year for him to be Santa Claus, would you say?" Kol glanced at both brothers._

" _It's George." Elijah finally admitted, while passing his right hand over his face to relax his tensed muscles._

" _George?" Both Kol and Klaus stared at Elijah with speechless expressions plastered all over their faces. "Do you mean our bodyguard George?" They both added._

" _What?" Elijah shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like we did not see … something?" He added, brushing the subject off with a hand gesture, while descending the stairs._

" _Oh we did see something, from George!" Klaus commented, a smirk raising both corners of his lips; while being close on Elijah's steps. "How's for Maria, I'm highly impressed, and under Petrov's roof, nonetheless?"_

" _Hey, hey… I'll give extra points to mother for that!" Kol commented, descending the staircase himself._

" _You two are unbelievably nosy and disrespectful; not even a single restrain in yourselves!" Elijah commented, with a loud sigh of disapprobation. "This is not of our business!"_

" _Oh but I beg the difference, dear brother!" Kol replied. "We need to regroup with Rebecca and think how we'll call George from now on, what do you think Klaus? Considering that mother has more than her share of past lover and husband."_

" _Daddy George, would be suitable perhaps?" Klaus suggested, teaser, with laughter escaping his lips._

" _It's way too formal." Kol shook his head. "Father George?"_

" _It's a bit too religious, would you say?" Klaus pushed the note a little bit further. "I say, Uncle George as a nice ring to it?"_

" _Yes, I like Uncle George!" Kol agreed, while shaking hands with his sibling._

" _I don't even know how I can be related to the both of you!" Elijah reached the main level, brushing both his brothers off; under their loud laughter sounds echoing in the Mansion._

* * *

_Rebekah lowered her hairbrush on the dresser while staring at her own reflection in the mirror. What if last night had been a mistake of enormous proportion? She wondered to herself, while biting into the thin skin of her bottom lip, before turning her head to take a glimpse at Stefan lying position on the bed… Except? He wasn't lying on the bed anymore?!_

" _Why are you already dressed, Bekah?" She heard the soft whisper near her left ear, feeling a set of hands sliding on her hips; burning her skin though her clothes._

" _I… I wasn't aware that you were already up?" The female Original swallowed a nervous lump in her throat, her eyes meeting Stefan's dark sight in the mirror._

" _Why are you in a hurry? I know that look of yours, Rebekah. You're analyzing, in this pretty head of yours, what has happened between us last night, aren't you?" The young vampire came to the conclusion, tightening their embrace; his head tucked in the left hollow of her shoulders._

" _I … I mean I don't know what you're saying, and shouldn't you get dressed or something?" She stammered, nervously; the heat of his naked body spreading hot flames from her head to her toes. "I saw a commando convoy of jeeps outside, I'm guessing Petrov is preparing a getaway for all of us?"_

" _It was to be expected." Stefan commented, before softly kissing and biting the tender skin of her neck. "I want you now; I want to be inside of you." He whispered, sliding both hands underneath her cashmere sweater to cup both of her breasts._

" _I don't … I don't think it's a good idea, I mean … We should get outside and meet the others, don't you think?" Rebekah objected, loud moans of pleasure escaping her lips to the best control of her emotions._

" _Yesterday night, it wasn't just a "fuck", Rebekah, not for me!" Stefan turned her body around before facing her. "I want more than that; I want to be by your side all the time."_

" _You want me "now", Stefan; because it's soothing your mood of the moment." Rebekah stared into his eyes. "And, I'm not asking for anything; last night was a good moment for the both of us, very enjoyable actually… But, please don't think you need to buy me flowers in the morning, or tell me lies to protect my heart." She shrugged, lying through her teeth. "We had sex; it was nice for the both of us… Maybe we'll do it again, but if not; it'll be a good memory."_

" _You're fucking unbelievable!" Stefan pushed the blonde bombshell at arm length, nervously passing a hand through his tangled hair, before grabbing a pair of jeans in his luggage, only to dress his legs with the fabric a minute later. "You want to play the ostrich game, Rebekah, and burry your head in the sand? You want to throw my love for you in the garbage? You want us to be "fuck friends" perhaps?" He lashed out, pacing back and forth on the length of the Persian rug. "Well that's not what I fucking want!" He busted loudly, before forcefully grabbing both of her upper arms in a firm grip to maintain her immobile._

" _You don't know what you want, Salvatore; to be frank you never did! A few years ago you had the same speech; but you were bored of me a few weeks later; so please spare me the theatrical performance of the year!" Rebekah mumbled, angrily, between her teeth; while lowering her sight._

" _Look at me?" Stefan ordered. "I want to burry myself so deep in you that you'll shatter into pieces and have no other choices but to scream my name from the top of your lungs like you did last night." He added. "And that is not only sex, it's fucking "love" and "passion", Bekah; and you're afraid of it, you're afraid of giving yourself to it, giving yourself to me!" He pleaded his case. "But I won't let you slip away from me, just know that." He finally pushed himself at a few feet of distance from her standing position. "I'll find a way to prove to you that my feelings are genuine." He pointed a finger at her._

" _You don't say?" Rebekah raised her chin in a confrontational gesture. "And what will you do to keep me? You'll handcuff me to your wrists? No wait… You'll lock me in a dungeon to fulfil your sexual fantasies?"_

" _No, I have a better way to make you realize the fact that I want to be with you is not temporary." He replied, a twisted smile appearing on his lips._

" _I can't wait to hear how you'll prove your genuine feelings to me?" She mocked openly, with sarcastic laughter._

" _I'll ask your hand in marriage to your mother and to Elijah." Stefan announced, uncompromisingly; under her speechless expression._

_ooOoo_

" _You'll what?" Rebekah exclaimed, in shock._

" _I'll ask them to give me your hand in marriage." Stefan replied, seriously; his sight locked with hers._

" _Did you just lose your mind?" She inquired, grabbing her head with both hands. "You couldn't even be with me for a few months and now you want me for eternity?"_

" _The past is the past, and we both changed, Bekah! And now…I couldn't even imagine my life with anybody but you." Stefan confessed, while passing a hand over the tensed muscles of his face. "I swear to you if you continue believing that my feelings are not genuine, I'll ask your family for the permission to marry you."_

" _And you'll forcefully bring me the altar I suppose?" Rebekah lashed out, while stomping her feet on the wooden floor._

" _If I have to force it out of you, yes, Rebekah; I'll do it." He nodded._

" _You're crazy! And … And I don't even want to speak to you anymore!" She gathered her personal belongings, before slamming the door to his face._

" _I'm crazy about you, Rebekah Mikaelson; and I'll do whatever it takes to win you back!" He shouted through the closed bedroom door, a smile spreading on his lips._

* * *

" _How is it that I feel like an old grumpy man who's about to team-up with a group of teenagers, including in the same pack, the new lover of my ex-wife?" Mikael questioned mostly to himself, while walking through a few corridors; side by side to Petrov._

" _You're having a rough awakening after a night of debauchery and drinking, my friend?" Petrov smirked; questioning blankly while perfectly knowing the answer._

" _Drinking yes, debauchery you'll have to ask the question to Maria and her present lover." Mikael growled, wincing._

" _I actually intend to ask." Ludvig added, bursting into laughter. "Well, my friend; if this is any consolation; I'm actually feeling like you." The Russian man added. "You're probably right saying that we're two old grumpy men who are about to embark into this wild ride with a bunch of inadequate fools, mostly our children, not that this fact is helping a lot; but you're forbidding the part that we're about to teach them a thing or two about survival." Petrov concluded his argument, while stepping out on the front patio of his mansion, before leading his rapid pace toward the large group scattered near the vehicles._

" _Everyone's here?" The Russian man inquired, dryly; nodding at Elijah._

" _We're missing my brother Kol and Miss Bennett, and our mother will be out shortly, what's the plan?" Elijah confirmed, nodding out of respect himself._

" _The plan son is to get our asses out of here as soon as possible." Mikael replied, in Petrov's behalf._

" _Why do we need to stay glued to each other? Maybe spreading in a few random locations could blur our trail?_ _" Klaus suggested, while pacing back and forth in front of the two patriarch men._

" _Because I've said so, is that enough reason for you to behave, son?" Ludvig lashed, uncompromisingly._

* * *

" _Will you ever grant me of your forgiveness, my dear Carolina?" Vittorio begged, while pouting adorably._

" _I don't know, should I?" Carolina raised her chin, arms firmly crossed over her chest; while standing near the convoy of vehicle. "You betrayed my trust, Vittorio!"_

" _My darling, the friendship we started last night can't vanish simply for the fact that I've known Petrov and Anastassia for the most part of my life, can it?" The warlock titled his head, with imploring eyes._

" _In all justice, the man was keeping an eye on you; therefore you can't be that mad at him." Katerina shrugged, winking at Vittorio._

" _Listen to your sister, she knows what is best for you; and what is best for you is to stay friend with Vittorio." He implored her forgiveness, once more._

" _You owe me one." Carolina pointed a finger toward the man's chest._

" _And I'll pay in due form when the moment will come." Vittorio promised, solemnly._

" _Fine then, I'll forgive you." Carolina let a smile spread on her lips, before turning her sight toward the commotion created by the group of men. "At that pace, they'll kill each other before that Augustine vampire could even get to us!" Carolina commented to her sister, opened palms placed on top of the wood of one of the commando jeeps._

" _Look at their bulging chests, mm… mm… This is certainly a delight for Vittorio's eyes!" The warlock commented, winking; before cheek-kissing both sisters. "I'll catch-up with you both later, tata!" He waved his fingers, before walking away._

" _I'm starting to think it's more a game for them than anything else!" Katerina replied to her sister; eyes narrowed on the group placed at a few feet of distance from their own, with her arms firmly crossed over her chest._

" _Boys… They are nothing more than young boys, who are not even able to behave properly!" Carolina rolled her eyes to the blue Russian sky._

" _If they were only acting like young boys, it would be easier to control them; unfortunately we have Alphas on our hands, sister." Katerina replied, sighing loudly._

" _Well, it's not always so bad … I guess…" Caroline replied, biting the thin skin of her bottom lip. "I mean to have an alpha in our hands?" She added, glimpsing comically at her sister._

" _Do you mean in our hands or in our bed sheets, sister?" Katerina replied, glimpsing back, a glimmer of mischief appearing in the deepness of her sight; smirk raising both corners of her lips. "_ _N_ _ерестать говорить о сексе, сестра!_ ( _Stop talking about sex, sister)!" Katerina added in Russian, while teasing._

" _Then, stop thinking about it yourself, and we'll have a deal!" Carolina pulled her tongue out, bursting into synchronized laughter with her sister._

* * *

_"Don't expect me to ever call you dad! You're nothing but the genitor who got my mother pregnant since when should I be summon to order all your wishes, Petrov?"_

_"Since, you're my flesh and blood, Klaus!" Petrov lashed out back to his son. "Since, I'm the master mind behind this all hiding operation." He added, angrily. "Since, you have no idea what, or should I say, who we are supposed to fight against. And since, you seem to have lost all logic in this huge head of yours!"_

_Both men stared at each other, bulging chest against bulging chest; chin raised in the most confrontational gesture._

_"You need to calm down, Klaus." Elijah whispered to his brother, while softly pulling him at a few feet of distance from his biological father._

* * *

" _What do we have here?" Damon inquired to his brother, while glancing at the stormy exchange, before silently passing by the small group of men, where the confrontation between both alphas was taking place._

" _It's certainly nothing that I want to be a part of it, so early in the morning." Stefan rolled his eyes; carrying his backpack on his right shoulder, while keeping a rapid pace toward the commando jeeps. "What number of jeep do you have?" Stefan inquired._

" _Apparently we both got the same number from hell!" Damon replied, while dropping his own small carry-on to his feet, his sight narrowed toward a particular vehicle. "As for you not being able to handle a confrontation, well you've just been served one and I hope you're ready for it?"_

" _What? What are you bubbling about?" Stefan finally raised his sight, before abruptly holding his own pace to stare at both Rebekah and Anastassia who were standing in front of the said jeep, with sour expressions plastered on their faces, as well as their arms crossed over their chests._

" _I won't share that vehicle with this bitch! Find us another one!" Rebekah yelled to Stefan._

" _You're delirious, blonde Barbie, if you think I'll share it with your pathetic self!" Anastassia replied, harshly; while spitting her venom._

" _What did you just called me?" Rebekah turned on herself, closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body._

" _What did "you" just called "me"?" Anastassia repeated for her own behalf._

" _I'll make you eat your words!" Rebekah exclaimed, before reaching for the redhead's throat; soon both wrestling in a body-joust._

" _Hey, hey, hey!" Damon and Stefan rushed by their sides, while trying to detach both tigresses from their "fists and nails" battle._

" _That's enough!" Stefan finally held Rebekah's body firmly against his chest, while grabbing both her wrists with his hands._

" _You're both acting like teenagers on high hormones!" Damon pushed Anastassia on the jeep driver's door; holding her in place with both of his hands placed on her shoulders._

" _I can't stand her!" She busted to Damon's face._

" _Well, you'll learn to stand her because you're sharing the same damn brother!" Damon replied, uncompromisingly._

" _Hey it's mutual, bitch!" Rebekah lashed out from afar._

" _Would you just shut-up?" Stefan shook the female Original by the shoulders. "What got in to you, Bekah?"_

" _Don't call me that, I'm not a child!" Rebekah pouted adorably._

" _I perfectly know you're not, you got a few years over me." Stefan teased._

" _It's not funny!" She bit the tender skin of her bottom lip._

" _We can't "not share" the same jeep, Rebekah; we'll all have to learn how to cohabit with each other. And, you'll need to learn how to get along with Klaus's other sister." Stefan nodded toward Anastassia's standing position near the jeep. "Will you behave accordingly now?" He asked, while releasing his grip on her._

" _Fine!" The Original female shrugged her shoulders; advancing toward her number one female enemy. "You'll sit on the back." She ordered the redhead with a raise chin._

" _Fuck you! These are my father's jeeps; I'll sit wherever I want to sit!" Anastassia pointed toward the said vehicles._

" _You'll both sit on the back, and Stefan and I we'll seat in front!" Damon snapped, in a loud order._

" _Oh yah, says who?" Both girls replied, simultaneously._

" _Say the both of us!" Both brothers replied, with annoyance._

" _Fine!" Rebekah exclaimed, while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _Fine!" Anastassia added herself, copying the Original's gesture._

* * *

" _You need to get a grip on yourself!" Elijah suggested to Klaus._

" _Do you even have the slightest idea where Petrov is leading this mission, Elijah; Because, I certainly don't!" Klaus snapped back at his brother._

" _No, I don't … But, do we have any other choices?" Elijah whispered; his sight locked with his brother's._

" _Oh come on, Nicklaus; are you so full of yourself to not accept your father's help?" Mikael lashed out to his step-son._

" _Coming from your mouth it's even more of a joke!" Klaus pushed Elijah at arm length, while walking back toward both patriarchs._

" _It's enough of your high temper for one day, son!" Petrov replied in a loud order._

" _No! It's enough of this stupid quarrel for one day!" A female voice shouted to the small group._

_They all turned on their heels to face Maria who was walking toward them, with George close on her heels._

" _Maria… Good morning, my dear." Petrov nodded his head with respect._

" _I wish it was a good morning." She sighed loudly, while closing her eyes to regain her calm._

" _Well, wasn't the night a pure revelation for you, Esther?" Mikael mocked; openly smirking. "Did you sleep well? And did you, George?"_

" _One can only hope the accommodation was to your satisfaction?" Petrov added, a twisted smile reaching his lips as well. "Was the mattress firm enough?"_

_George rushed toward Mikael and Petrov, closed fists resting on each side of his tensed body, prepare to mash both of their faces._

" _No!" Maria stopped him on his momentum. "They are not important enough for you to get in a fight with them!"_

" _I won't let them disrespect you this way!" George growled between his teeth._

" _And it's more to "you" and less to "them", George." Maria replied, with imploring eyes._

" _Good morning dearest mother; my asshole of father, uncle Petrov, uncle-slash-soon to be stepfather-slash-George!" Kol appeared from nowhere, greeting everyone, with Bonnie close on his heels. 'What? Why the long faces?"_

_Elijah approached the youngest of the Mikaelson male siblings; before pulling on his left ear._

" _Kol, don't put more fuel on the fire! Go find your commando jeep; and close your mouth!" Elijah pushed him toward the vehicles._

" _Ouch! That hurts; Elijah!"Kol lashed out; rubbing his ear._

" _I've never thought of that method to have him close his mouth, to tell you the truth?" Bonnie shrugged, comically. "Thank you, Elijah!" She added, smiling._

" _It's my pleasure, Miss Bennett." Elijah nodded, winking._

" _Yeah, take pleasure at torturing me, brother!" Kol commented, unhappy._

" _You'll live!" Elijah rolled his eyes, while turning back on his heels to reach the group._

" _Did you see how he treated me?" Kol pointed toward the oldest._

" _Mm… No, because I was listening to the jerk you were!" Bonnie replied; arms crossed over her chest._

" _What… He's mad only because I made a joke?" Kol shrugged, arms opened. "You know they are probably more jerks that I am, all considered." He added, before raising his sight to the mansion, with a changed facial expression spreading on his face._

" _Well, I can't argue with you there, but… What…What is it, Kol? Why are you suddenly white as a ghost?" Bonnie asked, her right hand grabbing his left upper arm._

" _Get down!" Kol's loud shout cut the air, closely followed by a wild range of explosions; blowing Petrov's mansion into pieces._

* * *

_Kol had managed to push Bonnie on the ground, his body covering her frail silhouette; in hope of protecting the young witch of the dark cloud of dusk surrounding them, and the falling of debris coming from all directions._

" _Bonnie, bonnie… For God sake, tell me you're alright, darling?" Kol brushed her tangled hair out of her face, while placing his finger to feel her pulse… She was alive!_

" _What… What happened?" She came back to consciousness; haggardly scattering her dark surroundings._

" _Petrov's mansion, it was … It was blown into pieces." Kol explained quickly; while helping Bonnie rise back on her legs._

" _What do you mean blown into pieces, a bomb?" Bonnie asked, in shock; suddenly noticing the poor survivors stepping away from the burning gaze and debris._

" _Kaboom… Gone! Bomb, dynamite, I couldn't say?" Kol replied, while sliding an arm around the young witch's waist. "Are you sure you're alright?" He inquired, once more._

" _Yes, I'm fine… I'm just a bit shake-up by all of this." She nodded, while leaning on his muscular body._

" _Let's walk toward the jeep." Kol suggested._

" _What about the others?" Bonnie questioned._

" _They'll be fine! We've seen far worse in our one thousands of years, believe me." He reassured her._

_Loud coughing sound, a few swears thrown in the heat of the moments, the entire group scattered here and there, all trying to get back on their feet after the strong explosions._

" _Mother, where are you?!" The shout-out of Elijah cut the general brouhaha like a sword would cut the air._

" _Elijah?" Klaus reached his brother, while stumbling over his own steps. "Where is she?"_

" _I'm here, I'm fine!" Maria replied, while raising herself on both of her knees; still unbalanced by the explosions. "Go find the girls, go find Carolina and Katerina!" She ordered them, gesturing toward the jeeps._

" _Ingrid!" The loud call came, before Petrov could kneel by her side; cupping her face with both hands. "Are you ok?"_

" _I'm fine, just a bit shake-up." She nodded, shyly meeting his fiery sight._

" _Esther!" Mikael shouted himself._

" _In here, she's fine!" Ludvig confirmed, before helping Maria rose back on her legs._

" _You're sure, you're fine?" Mikael approached their standing positions, softly pushing a few strands of hair behind her ears._

" _Yes, yes… I'm in one piece, thank you." Maria confirmed, once more; slowly taking a step backward from Mikael, while nodding her head discreetly. "Where's George?" She frantically scattered the carnage scenery._

" _Your lover … I don't know where he is… But, you shouldn't worry, he should be ok." Mikael shrugged, while still taking a look around in hope of finding the bodyguard._

" _Maria, Maria…" The call came from afar, as a welcome glimpse of hope._

" _George?" Maria rushed toward the bodyguard; jumping into the comfort of his arms a few second later. "Oh you're alive! Thank God!" She cupped his face with both hands._

" _I'm fine! Are you ok? You weren't hurt I hope… Let me check you out." George frantically pushed a few strands of Maria's hair behind her ears._

" _I'm fine, no need to worry." She nodded, a smile spreading on her lips._

" _Well, we certainly did not receive the same treatment, that's for sure." Mikael winced at the reunion._

" _Jealousy, Mikael?" Petrov teased. "I wasn't aware you had it in you?"_

" _Do not tell me that you're enjoying the view?" Mikael nodded toward the close embrace that Maria and George were sharing._

" _The mere difference between you and I, Mikael, is that I'd never let jealousy control my emotions or the finale outcome." Ludvic replied, with a raised eyebrow. "Alexay!" He turned his attention toward his right arm man who was rushing toward their standing positions. "What happened, a bomb?"_

" _No, it was a large load of dynamites; strategically placed to blow this castle into pieces." Alexay explained while nodding respectfully._

" _Dynamite… Why? A bomb would have done the same job in rapider time and much worst effect?" Mikael shrugged, dumbfounded._

" _A bomb would leave a trace, a fabricant of the said device behind their devil actions; dynamite is old fashion but untraceable." Ludvic explained to Mikael. "You estimate how many deaths?"_

" _Well, it was early in the morning; the staff was starting their day, and…" Alexay swallowed a lump in his throat, lowering his head, not being able to stare into Ludvic's glance._

" _Damn! Fuck this!" The Russian man growled, while nervously passing a hand through his hair._

" _We'll avenge them, Ludvig; I give you my words." Mikael placed a comforting hand on top of Ludvig's right shoulder._

* * *

" _Katerina, Carolina?" Elijah shouted both names; standing at a few feet of distance from his brother. "They are not answering, where could they be, Klaus?"_

" _If I have to scatter this fucking Russian land to find her, I'll do it, Elijah….Carolina!" Klaus yelled, rushing toward the line of vehicles, deep fog enveloping both of their male silhouettes. "Carolina, answer me?" He shouted her name, once more._

" _Katerina…Katerina?" Elijah shouted, once more, reaching the jeeps' positions himself, frantically scattering their present surroundings, while coughing under the tick smoke._

" _Klaus…" A weak call pierced the gloomy silence, making them turn their heads in synchronicity. "I'm here!" The young woman stumbled over her own steps, coming from behind one of the said vehicle, before falling into her husband's arms._

" _Carolina are you hurt, answer me God damn it?!" Klaus lashed out, nervously; while cupping her face to check for any traces of injuries._

" _No, I'm not hurt, I'm fine… I'm just a bit dizzy." She nodded, while fisting her husband's t-shirt to keep her equilibrium. "But, screaming my head off is not helping me the least." She commented, while eying him._

" _Don't ever do this to me again, Love; you hear me? I couldn't …Even…" Klaus stammered, closing his eyes to regain his calm, a loud sigh escaping his lips; before reopening them, but this time only to crash his mouth on hers._

" _Mm…" Carolina moaned, softly, feeling his tongue sliding between her trembling lips to take possession of hers. "Klaus…" She mouthed his name. "If you're giving me the mouth to mouth; it's not how it works."_

" _Don't ever leave me again, please… I couldn't bear the thought of losing you, Love?" Klaus whispered the words, eyes closed, with his forehead in contact with his wife's._

" _It's you who wanted to leave me, remember?" Carolina murmured, slowly raising her teary eyes to stare into his eyes._

" _Carolina, you're ok?" Elijah approached them, slowly sliding a comforting hand on her back._

" _I'm fine, Elijah… Thank you." She responded, a ghost of a smile spreading on her lips. "What happened? We were standing near the jeep and I can barely remember the rest; everything went blank?"_

" _There were several explosions, blowing Petrov's Manor into pieces._ _" He informed, briefly._

" _What?" Carolina exclaimed, in shock. "Are your mother safe, and what about Bonnie?" She turned her sight toward Klaus, imploring for good news._

_He nodded, before gently sliding his hand behind her neck to bless her forehead of a kiss._

" _They are all safe and sound."_ _He reassured her._

" _Carolina, please tell me, do you know where your sister is?" Elijah inquired._

" _Yes, she's behind the jeep; she wasn't feeling well… I've told her that I would try to find help." Carolina reassured the Original before seeing him rush toward the said location._

" _Katerina?" Elijah called while rapidly reaching the back of the vehicle._

" _Elijah… I'm here." She called him._

" _Katerina, are you ok?" Elijah quickly kneeled by her side, while cupping his wife's face with both hands._

" _I'm fine… but…" She glanced at him, before raising her sweater to show him a large piece of broken debris deeply dig into her flesh. "I did not show this to Carolina, It would have scared her for nothing; I wasn't sure what to do, Elijah? I … I don't feel it much, though it's hurting… It's kind of new to me… I mean being a vampire, you know? And if it would have been Carolina, it could have killed her so easily."_

" _It's ok; don't worry this pretty head of yours, it wasn't your sister." Elijah nodded, before lowering his head to softly kiss her forehead. "I'll pull the metal out of the wound, ok? Just know that it's going to hurt like hell; but I'm here with you, beautiful." He explained, while pushing on her right shoulder to keep his wife immobile._

" _Ok?" She nodded, courageously. "I'm ready."_

_Elijah nodded himself as a warning; before strongly pulling on the piece of debris to remove it from the opened wound, under her muffled cry of sufferance._

" _It's ok, Katerina; I got you… I got you…my sweet wife, my love." He murmured, softly caressing her hair; before entering his fangs in his right wrist to give his life partner blood to heal her wound. "Drink; you'll be like new in no time." He added, placing his dripping wrist on her mouth. "You've scared me to death; don't ever do that again."_

* * *

" _My friends…"Petrov exclaimed to the survivors group of the present explosions, while standing tall and proud on top of one of the jeep wood. "The Catholic Church, my enemies have killed my own, destroyed my home, they have declared war to the supernatural world, and I'm not about to let them decide who lives and who dies on this earth! On the same ground I have stood proud and tall for more than a thousand years!" He shouted, uncompromisingly. "For all the survivors, I'll avenge the loss of our own, I can promise you that much." He added, before jumping back on the firm ground. "Now, let's hit the road!" He nodded in direction of Maria. "You're coming with me, and I don't want to hear a single word about it!" He ordered the patriarch woman, while grabbing her right wrist to pull her behind his heels._

" _If Maria is riding with you in that jeep, I'm coming with her!" George placed himself in front of Petrov's walking path, while placing his right hand over the Russian mans' chest to hold his momentum._

" _Get your hand off my chest, now!" Petrov ordered, dryly; his sight narrowed on the bodyguard._

" _Now, now … No need to fight! Of course you are coming with us, son!" Mikael intercepted the bodyguard, while sliding an arm around his shoulders, in a false friendly gesture. "We wouldn't want it any other way, would we, Ludvig?" He teased._

" _Of course we wouldn't!" Ludvig grinned, perniciously._

" _Is this one of your sick twisted game, Ludvig?" Maria mumbled, angrily, between her teeth, while approaching the jeep. "You think that controlling my future will change the past?"_

" _What? No, Ingrid… I simply thought that having your three men in the same vehicle would calm your anxiety, my dear?" Petrov shrugged, a huge grin appearing on his manly lips._

" _I'll sit with you in the back seats." George eyed the Russian man; pushing Maria inside, to help her take her sitting position before following her path inside the vehicle, with a loud slamming of the door._

" _This is your taste in fun, Mikael?" Petrov asked, arching both eyebrows at the Original._

" _Admit it, Petrov; I did not lose my touch?" Mikael placed his aviator sunglasses on top of his nose, grinning._

" _Nope, you didn't; you're the same jackass, Mikaelson… and unfortunately for me, I like it!" Ludvig replied, smirking; while placing his own glasses, before taking his sitting position behind the steering wheel._

* * *

" _Do you have any idea where we're heading?" Katerina asked Elijah, who started the engine of the jeep, as soon she has closed the passenger door._

" _None… I guess we'll know soon enough while following Petrov's convoy." Elijah replied, while pushing his feet on the accelerator; before glancing one more time at the burning ruins they were leaving behind them._

" _North, we're heading north." Carolina replied, sure of her intuition._

" _What makes you think that, Love?" Klaus glanced at her reflection in the front mirror._

" _I've heard your father talk to Alexay, and he specifically named a route leading toward a range of mountains, mostly unknown by outsiders of the country." Carolina shrugged._

" _The Ural Mountains?" Katerina questioned her sister._

" _One can only guess." Carolina replied, shrugging._

" _Can you just omit the father part?" Klaus winced, closing both fists on his lap._

" _No, I can't!" Carolina shook her head, uncompromisingly. 'Because like it or not, Klaus; Petrov is your father in more ways than one."_

" _Well, I don't like it!" Klaus pouted._

" _If I'm being sincere, there's a lot of him in you." Elijah commented, taking a rapid glance at his brother who was sitting by his side, in the front seats of the jeep._

" _You really want to start a quarrel in this confine vehicle, Elijah?" Klaus snapped._

" _Nope, I'm not in the mood for that, Nicklaus!" Elijah replied, while hiding a smile._

" _You need to buddle up your seatbelt, Carolina." Klaus ordered, while glancing at his wife in the mirror, once more._

" _Why? I don't want to put it." She narrowed her sight on him._

" _Because I've said so and because you're the only fucking human in this car… Put your damn seatbelt on, Carolina!" Klaus raised his voice. "Or I'll ask Elijah to stop the car, and I swear I'll put it myself!"_

" _Fine… I'll do as you wish …_ **Ludvig Petrov** _!" Carolina snapped back at him, while furiously putting her seatbelt; under the discreet burst of laughter of both Elijah and Katerina._

" _My sister has you figured you, Klaus; how does it feel?" Katerina smirked at her brother-in-law._

" _Katerina don't start." Elijah arched an eyebrow, rapidly glancing at his wife in the mirror._

" _Are you ordering me, Elijah?" Katerina narrowed her sight on her husband._

" _No, I'm politely suggesting putting your dislike of my brother on the side for the time of this road trip." He glanced back at her._

" _Oh look Elijah your wife is suddenly exchanging a few words with me; I feel so blessed!" Klaus mocked, sarcastically. You were saying Katerina?"_

" _How much of an asshole you really are, Klaus; but for some sort of reasons, my sister is crazy about her husband, so I guess I'll respect her bad taste in one man in general." Katerina replied, tit for tat, while tilting her head comically._

" _Is your wife starting a quarrel with me just now?" Klaus inquired. "…Because, if this is so, nothing would make me happier to tell you the truth." He added, teaser. "I have this urge to kill; but a fight with Katerina would certainly be a good replacement?"_

" _Don't start, Nicklaus; for God sake!" Elijah rolled his eyes, sighing loudly._

" _This road trip is going to be hell on earth!" Carolina commented to herself, while closing her eyes, her head hitting the back of her seat._

* * *

" _Well, this is kind of nice, Miss Bennett. I'll drive this top-of-the brand beauty with you by my side, while others are sharing it." Kol winked at the young witch while taking his sitting position on the driver seat. "Oh do you smell the richness of the leather? See the high-tech dashboard? Oh little Kol is happy now! The perk of having a rich Russian uncle named Ludvic Petrov." He added, smiling; while turning the key and starting the engine._

" _Why are you the one driving this beauty, again?" Bonnie narrowed her sight on him, arms firmly crossed over her chest._

" _What do you mean, why? I'm the man isn't it good reason enough?" Kol glanced at the passenger seat, before unexpectedly lowering his head near Bonnie's, to bless her left cheek of a kiss. "Put your seatbelt would you, darling?"_

" _You're the man, really?! What_ **IF** _I want to drive it?" Bonnie sighed loudly, invisible steam coming out of her ears._

" _Drive it? What are you saying? No, nope… It's not possible! Just sit on the passenger seat and enjoy the ride, would you?" Kol suggested, while patting her knees. "In the meantime, I'll enjoy my new toy!" He added, smirking._

" _You think I'll be the one enjoying the ride while sitting on the passenger seat? I think you will enjoy it also." Bonnie grinned, perniciously; while nodding toward the driver's window._

" _What do you mean?" Kol questioned, suspiciously; slowly turning his sight toward the introducer, before pushing a button to lower the window down. "Yes?"_

" _Petrov gave me the order to drive this vehicle." Alexay gave the information, with a polite nod._

" _You got to be kidding me!" Kol lowered his forehead on the steering wheel._

" _There, there…Kol!" Bonnie patted his head with her left hand, keeping at bay her need to burst into laughter, while biting into her bottom lip._

" _Fine!" Kol growled, unhappy; while stepping outside the vehicle, before taking his sitting position on the backseat of the jeep. "You want to join and make out on the backseats with me, darling; while our friend Alexay will drive?" He suggested, teaser._

" _Well, if you put it this way, baby?" Vittorio replied to Kol; while opening the backseat door, before sitting beside the Original. "I seem to have a weakness for the Mikaelson's men." He added, winking. "And this little trip will give me the chance to catch-up with my witch friend Bonnie; we have so much to share."_

" _See, you won't feel alone anymore; baby!" Bonnie mocked openly; while turning her head to wink at Kol._

" _This is a nightmare!" Kol commented, while pouting and sinking into his seat; arms firmly crossed over his chest._

* * *

" _You're sure that neither of you are hurt?" Damon inquired, once more._

" _Yes!" Both girls shouted, simultaneously._

" _It's a chance that we were inside the jeep when the explosions started." He added, with a loud sigh of relief._

" _And are we all good now?" Stefan asked; taking his sitting position inside the jeep on the front passenger seat, before turning mid-way to glance at Rebekah and Anastassia; who were both pouting with their arms firmly crossed over their chests._

" _I don't know? Are we good? Maybe if your girlfriend would push her over-sized makeup bag, I could breathe more." Anastassia snapped, while eyeing Rebekah. "This is a runaway mission, Barbie; we're not driving to an all-inclusive resort!"_

" _Say the girl with a red new fresh manicure!" Rebekah replied, tit for that. "You know what Anastassia, go to hell!" She added, dryly; a devil smile plastered on her lips._

" _Just to see you burn by the flames of Satan, anytime, Blondie!" Anastassia replied, sarcastically._

" _Well, technically, as a vampire you don't need to breathe, so …" Damon took a glance in the mirror at the Russian bombshell, while starting the engine._

" _If I would snap your neck, it would be another way to not breathe, Damon!" Anastassia busted, angrily._

" _Well, this nasty reply was not bad…Not bad at all!" Rebekah complimented the redhead, a smirk spreading on her red lips._

" _Well, thank you!" Anastassia nodded. "I have my moments." She added, while glancing at her fresh manicure._

" _Aren't they a breath of fresh air in the middle of this hell?" Damon commented, wincing; while pushing his feet on the accelerator to follow the convoy._

" _Which hell… The one we're leaving outside or the one inside this vehicle?" Stefan replied, raising both eyebrows, comically._

" _Humor brother, so early in the morning? I'm highly impressed!" Damon commented, a rictus raising the right side of his manly lips._

" _Why is she sitting with me, in the back anyway?" Both beauties asked simultaneously, before eyeing each other with fiery sights._

" _This is one of my father's jeeps after all!" Anastassia exclaimed, unhappy. "So, I could sit in front!"_

" _Oh, look at you whining, like the good daddy's daughter that you are!" Rebekah lashed out to the redhead._

" _Oh for God sake, could you just shut up both of you!" Both brothers ordered in perfect synchronisation of words and time._

" _She started it!" Rebekah pointed toward Anastassia, while crossing her arms on her chest._

" _What? You're the one who started it!" Anastassia commented, before turning her head toward her passenger window, while starting to pout in silence._

" _Oh this is going to be a hell of a road trip!" Stefan stroked both of his eyelids._

" _You've said it brother, you've said it!" Damon added, rolling his eyes; while imploring the saints from heaven to help them. "But that doesn't mean we can't sing?" He added, shrugging._

" _You want to Sing, really Damon?" Stefan crossed his arms in front of his chest, while tilting his head._

" _Well, it couldn't hurt, could it?" He thought out loud before hitting the first lyrics. "Hit the road Jack, and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more…Hit the road Jack, and don't you come back no more…"_

" _You're crazy you know that?" Stefan commented, a huge smile spreading on his lips; while both girls were glancing at each other, a ghost of a smile spreading on their lips._

" _What… You should sing! Hit the road Jack, and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more… hit the road Jack, and don't you come back no more…" Damon sang once more._

" _What you say…" Stefan added, singing himself; while clapping in his hands._

" _Hit the road Jack, and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more…Hit the road Jack, and don't you come back no more…" Rebekah and Anastassia started to sing themselves, under their bursts of laughter._

* * *

_The priest politely nodded at a few members of the Vatican clergy, who passed by their side in the silent corridor leading the tall man toward the main study room._

_He finally reached the two gigantic brass doors, knocking a few times on their panels, patiently waiting to be invited inside._

" _Yes! Come in!" A hoarsely voice responded_ _in Polish._

_The priest pushed the doors open, suddenly taking a step back to rapidly glance at both sides of the corridor, assuring himself that not a single unwanted bystander was spying on him. He finally entered the room, closing both doors behind his back, before locking them with a key._

" _What's the latest news?" An imposing man, dressed of a long red dress, inquired dryly, from his sitting position behind a large desk, with his cold eyes raised to glance at the priest._

" _Cardinal Gorski." The priest made a reverence, closing the space between them, before grabbing the Cardinal's right hand to bless his large ring of a kiss._

" _That is enough of you kissing my damn ass, Priest Jovanni!" The Cardinal spoke, this time in Italian, while cutting the air like a dagger through the flesh._

" _Of course Cardinal, forgive me." The said priest lowered his head with shame, crossing both hands in front of his chest in a prayer gesture._

" _And…Am I supposed to wait here until my body will be embalmed?" Cardinal Gorski snapped at this poor lackey, once more._

" _It's done, Cardinal." The priest whispered, lowering his upper body and head near the man's head._

" _Can you be more explicit in your say?" The cardinal raised an eyebrow with high interest._

" _Ludvig Petrov's mansion was blown into pieces, with all of them hitting the road a few minutes later." Priest Jovanni confirmed, with a single nod._

" _Well, this is surely an angelic music to my ears." Cardinal Gorski smiled, perniciously; lowering his upper body on the back of his chair, both hands joined. "And what's the status of our number one weapon against the enemies of the church?"_

" _Violent, uncontrollable, impulsive; he's barely maintained immobile by several chains placed on his neck, wrists and ankles." The priest informed in a shivering voice._

" _Perfect!" The cardinal raised on his legs, reaching the window placed behind the desk, a fiery glow filling the dark colors of his eyes. "It has come the time to release the beast to win the war against evil!" He announced, ceremoniously; a proud smile plastered on his severe lips._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS GUYS, may your hearts be filled with happiness and joy :))


	29. Fool me once ...

_**Jeep 4…** _

" _99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer; take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall… 98 bottles of beer, take …" Damon sang from the top of his lungs; keeping the beat while hitting his fingers on the steering wheels; his eyes kept on the road and on the procession of cargo jeeps in front of his sight; under the loud growling sounds coming from all passengers present by his side, in the vehicle._

" _Listen to me, Damon; and listen to me very carefully…And keep your hands on the steering wheels and on the road while I'm talking to you!" Anastassia ordered, making her move from the backseat, her left forearm placed around the young vampire's throat; while choking the air out of him at the same time. "You say one more word of that stupid song; and I swear to you; I'll snap your neck! I'm Anastassia Petrov and I'm rarely joking around."_

" _I second this brilliant idea to snap his neck!" Rebekha raised her right hand in the air; with a smirk blessing her pulpous pink lips._

" _I can't….Let me… Stefan…" Damon stammered not being able to make a coherent sentence; while glancing toward his brother in hope that he would come to his rescue._

" _Sorry, brother… I second the idea to snap your neck too; if you're not ending our sufferance with your silence." Stefan raised his right hand in the air; teasingly. "And after all, Anastassia is our host's daughter; I'm obligated to agree with her, as of respect you know?" He winked at his brother, playfully._

" _You'll … You'll pay … For this, brother!" Damon managed to burst; while trying to pull Anastassia's arm away from his neck._

" _Three against one, baby… Will you stop singing now?" Anastassia whispered, near Damon's right ear, her lips softly nibbling on his earlobe; while her right hand stroked his pectorals. "Or you want me to be more persuasive?" She lowered her hand near his crotch area; under the big rictus of Stefan; who turned his head toward his passenger window to avoid staring at their foreplay._

" _Ok, I got the message." He mumbled, the words escaping his lips; before being released of Anastassia's firm grip on his neck._

" _That's much better, my bunny bun!" The redhead bombshell gave Damon a friendly slap on his right cheek. "Now, drive… And keep your mouth shut!"_

" _Amen!" Rebekah sighed with relief, lowering her head on the back of her seat._

" _So, what's with you two, anyway?" Anastassia started to scroll down her cellphone screen, looking at the received messages, while addressing herself to both Stefan and Rebekah._

" _To whom are you texting, anyway?" Rebekah asked, while rolling her eyes._

" _Vittorio, he's such a dick!" Anastassia laughed at what she was reading. "So? Are you going to answer me soon, or do I need to pull it out of your mouths?"_

" _What do you want to know about me and Rebekah, Anastassia?" Stefan asked, while arching an eyebrow at his brother, who smirked at him in return: Karma was a bitch!_

" _Well, you're obviously fucking each other, right?" She shrugged her shoulders, half-interested by their saga. "But, you seem distant at the same time; so what is your game?"_

" _What? That is not of your damn business!" Rebekah exclaimed, mostly outraged._

" _What is this of your concerns?" Stefan turned his head toward the female Russian._

" _Oh believe me it's not, I couldn't care less. I'm just bored and therefore I was wondering what your story was?" Anastassia replied. "But… By the way you've both answered me; it's indeed confirming that you're fucking each other." She titled her head, while grinning at Damon's brother._

" _Isn't she lovely? What was your previous say, Stefan? That you were obligated to agree to Anastassia's words of wisdom?" Damon mocked, a small laughter escaping his lips._

" _God! Why I am not surprised? Why is it so hard to say:_ _ **Yah; we are sleeping together, so what, Anastassia?**_ _It's like Miss Blondie here is acting like royalty, and you want to defend her honor or something?!" The redhead sighed with annoyance; while continuing to text on her device. "You want me to demonstrate how easy it is? Fine! I'm fucking your brother Damon, basically on every damn surfaces we can find at our disposal; and with every positions in the Kama Sutra book!"_

" _Ewww…"Stefan winced, while closing his eyes and shaking his shoulders. "Way too much information in one single sentence!"_

" _Hey? I'm not acting like royalty, ok. And, at least I have some decency inside of myself, I'm not acting like a tramp!" Rebekah pointed a forbidden finger under Anastassia's nose._

" _Yah, yah … Whatever!" Anastassia pushed Rebekah's finger away. "So? Will I finally know the story or not?" She glanced at both Stefan and Rebekah._

" _So you can text your friend Vittorio about everything?" Damon raised his sight in the rear-view mirror to meet the redhead's gaze._

" _Of course, why else would I want to know, Damon…Duh?" She winked at him. "But your brother is not being very cooperative, maybe you could tell me their story?"_

" _I can't say "no", Stefan… You see, she's our host's daughter after all; who am I to refuse something to her?" Damon titled his head, a huge grin plastered on his lips._

" _I'll get you back for this, Damon, mark my words!" Stefan mumbled, angrily, between his teeth._

" _So, this is how it goes…" Damon started the short tale of: Stefan and Rebekah._

" _Shut the fuck up, Damon!" Rebekah busted._

" _Why? Your past history with my brother is not a huge secret, is it?" Damon shrugged his shoulders, his eyes kept on the road._

" _No, but it's ours." Stefan added, uncompromisingly._

" _Oh come one; we are basically sisters; what's the fucking problem with you telling me what the deal with you two is?" Anastassia questioned._

" _Oh, you so did not just use the "we are sisters" crap on me?" Rebekah sighed loudly, eyes and closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body._

" _Ok, ok … It's not a big deal. They dated a few years ago; Stefan thought she was acting mostly childishly and immaturely; they broke up, and he dumped her on the side of a road; and never looked back." Damon told the past history of both his brother and Rebekah._

" _Damn!" Anastassia exclaimed. "But could you slow down I can't barely keep up writing this "shit" to Vittorio."_

" _Give me your damn cellphone!" Rebekah grabbed the device; before having it snatched, once more, from her hands._

" _I'm confiscating the damn device until we'll arrive at destination." Damon opened the glove compartment, before throwing the cellphone inside._

" _I'll tell daddy!" Anastassia pouted, arms crossed over her chest._

" _Well … Do that, tell him!" Damon sighed loudly; while glancing at his brother._

" _Can I at least know the end of their amazing love story?" Anastassia asked, teasingly._

" _I've notice how much Rebekah have changed over the years, and I came to the conclusion that I've never stopped loving her, so I've asked…" Stefan started; before being cut in the middle of his sentence._

" _Stefan, don't you dare!" Rebekah snapped at him; while trying to stop his momentum._

" _So I've asked her to marry me." He admitted, humbly._

" _Shut the fuck up!" Both Damon and Anastassia exclaimed in shock; both of their jaws falling down._

* * *

_**Jeep 3…** _

" _Oh, oh, oh … This is juicy!" Vittorio commented, while looking at his cellphone screen. "Send me more gossips, girlfriend!"_

" _What are you reading anyway?" Kol tried to snatch the device away from the warlock's hands, but without succeeding._

" _No, no, no … Gorgeous!" Vittorio grabbed Kol's right wrist. "If you want to touch something of mine, I can easily arrange it?" He dropped Kol's hand near his crotch area._

" _Eww…" Kol redraw his hand from Vittorio's lap, wiping his palm on the fabric of his jeans. "Do not put my hand near your junk … EVER AGAIN!" He added, pointing a finger underneath the warlock's nose; under the discreet laughter of Bonnie and Alexay, that were sitting on the front seats of the jeep._

" _Oh…Touchy, touchy… Did I hit a nerve with your boyfriend, sweet pea?" Vittorio addressed himself to Bonnie._

" _He's not my boyfriend." Bonnie rolled her eyes, with Alexay's discreet glance toward her. "What? Keep your eyes on the road, you!"_

" _Don't deny it, darling; you know it's not nice to lie about a true fact." Kol teased._

" _Yes, Miss Bennett." Alexay nodded, a large smirk spreading on his lips. "I'll keep my eyes on the road and my ears closed for the duration of this trip."_

" _How truly nice of you." Bonnie titled her head, a sour smile plastered on her face._

" _So, you're just frolicking with each other then?" Vittorio waved his left hand at Kol and Bonnie._

" _Frolicking? Who in his fucking right mind is using the term "frolicking" as a current expression these days?" Kol shrugged his shoulders, dumbfounded. "We're fucking each other if you really want to know!"_

" _I'm sorry, what did you just say? We're fucking each other?" Bonnie twisted her upper body from her upfront sitting position, both closed fists placed on each side of her waist. "So, that's what we're doing then?"_

" _See, how my sweet Bonnie is all upset when I say we're only sleeping together. She's totally my girlfriend- But she is denying it!" Kol commented at Vittorio, a big smile spreading on his lips._

" _In you dream, you wish that I was your girlfriend, asshole!" Bonnie busted to Kol; while turning her sight back on the road. "And you, you keep your sight on the road and your ears closed!" She ordered Alexay._

" _Yes, Miss Bennett." Alexay turned his head toward his side window to retain his laughter. Youth! Such a pleasure to watch and hear about their drama._

" _Well, let me write this confirmation down then." Vittorio grinned, before texting on his device._

" _For God sake to whom are you texting?" Kol glanced at the screen, but without being able to see the recipient name._

" _To Anastassia! She's bad-mouthing on Stefan and Rebekah at the moment, did you know that these two were …" Vittorio started gossiping, before being cut in his talkative momentum._

" _Enough! Texting is forbidden as of now." Alexay ordered, while managing to grab the device, before throwing it in the gloves compartment._

" _Oh! The big and mighty Alexay has spoken. I'm shitting in my pants!" Kol raised both hands before waving them in front of Alexay's gaze in the rear-view mirror._

" _Why are you always fishing for trouble, for God sake, Kol?" Bonnie mumbled, angrily; between her teeth._

" _I thought you know that my middle name was "trouble", darling?" Kol teased. "Furthermore, if I was not trouble, you wouldn't share my bed; you would be bored in no time." He added, under the loud sighing of the brunette._

" _The big and mighty Alexay would like to remind the "big and mighty Original" that using devices such as cellphones could easily make our enemy track us faster." The Russian man take a quick glance in the mirror, a rictus raising the right corner of his lips. Idiots they were!_

" _And why do you think my own cellphone is closed since we left?" Kol raised his device to show the right arm man of Petrov that he wasn't an idiot._

"Король мира!" _Alexay rolled his eyes, while insulting Kol of being the King of the world in his natal language._

"Царь вселенной" _Kol rectified, while smirking, that he was in fact the King of the universe._

" _Asshole!" Alexay mumbled, angrily; between his teeth._

" _Do I know it?" Bonnie exchanged a smile with the Russian man._

" _Hey! Keep your sight on the road and not on my girlfriend, Hulk man!" Kol ordered, dryly; while pointing his finger toward the road in front of their sights._

" _How do you even manage with him?" Vittorio commented to Bonnie, while shaking his head in amazement. "I can only presume that his sexy look and skills in bed are helping swallowing the pill?"_

" _You know that I'm sitting right beside you, right? And that I could easily pull your heart out of your chest, Vittorio?" Kol growled, unhappy._

" _I'm complimenting your good look and you're mad at me? You should chill, baby!" Vittoro shook his left hand in a dismissal gesture._

" _Tell me Vittorio, what can you tell me about my grandmother?" Bonnie asked to cut short the bickering between Kol and the warlock, and because she couldn't stop wondering about her grandmother's past as a witch._

" _Bonnie, your grandmother was magnificent! One of the church's protégé actually." Vittorio announced, with much proudness._

" _Was she powerful and feared?" Bonnie turned on herself to stare into the warlock's eyes._

" _Yes, she was both powerful and mostly feared. But, she also had a big heart; and she wanted harmony and peace between the species." Vittorio reassured the young witch._

" _What were you expecting? Of course your grandmother was magnificent … Just like you are, Bonnie." Kol added, in a truthful way; while addressing a shy smile to the brunette._

_Bonnie blushed the fifty shades of red, before turning her sight back to the road._

" _And I'll add a real charmer to the list of "why" you're sleeping with the guy." Vittorio commented to Bonnie, under a discreet laugher._

* * *

_**Jeep 2…** _

" _Are you happy now, dear sister-in-law; that you are sitting upfront near your hubby?" Klaus mocked, while titling his head. "It, obviously, did not bothered anyone to stop the convoy only to satisfy your last selfish wish."_

" _I thought you would want to seat with your wife, on the backseat. My bad!" Katerina replied, dryly. "And I also thought that you always loved to rear entry to start with!"_

" _Katerina!" Carolina exclaimed, in shock. "_ заткнись!" _She added in her natal language, while asking her sister to close her mouth._

" _Katerina, behave!" Elijah ordered, while giving his wife a gentle slap on her lap._

" _Fine!" Katerina started to pout, while looking at the road from her side window. "And don't slap me and start what you can't finish."_

" _Oh it's quite alright, Elijah." Klaus added, smirking. "It's natural that your wife wants to play footsy under the table, though in this case; she'll probably slide her left hand in your pants in the next five minutes!" He added, with a hand gesture toward Katerina's sitting position. "But you won't be in luck, Katerina; my brother is not the type to demonstrate his affection in public."_

" _Fuck you!" Katerina busted out; while showing her middle finger to her brother-in-law._

" _Now that is what I call a sweet bounding moment between family members." Klaus grinned, happily. 'Would you say, Love?" He turned his sight toward Carolina, who narrowed her fiery sight on him._

" _Are you done?" Elijah took a glance at his brother in the rear-view mirror._

" _Oh come on, Elijah; where's your sense of humor in all of this? You've been driving for hours; and we've been stuck in this vehicle for the same amount of time. I don't see what… Oh!" Klaus cut his sentence short, while startling on his seat and stammering on his say at the subtle touch of his wife's hand on his crotch area, before feeling her fingers releasing the buckle on his leather belt, and slowly lowering the zipper of his jeans._

" _You were saying?" Elijah raised an eyebrow in interrogation._

" _Nothing…I was saying nothing!" Klaus swallowed a lump in his throat, drops of sweat slowly starting to roll on his forehead; before feeling Carolina's hand rub in slow, agonizing strokes his cock. "What are you doing, Carolina?" He mouthed the words on his manly lips; while turning his sight toward his wife._

" _Teaching you a lesson!" She mouthed back, silently and perniciously; with a sadistic smile spreading on her lips; before subtly pushing herself nearer to him._

_Klaus grabbed her left wrist, while trying to pull her hand away from his, now, hard member; but she grabbed his shaft harder to maintain her grip on him._

" _Don't play this game, sweetheart!" He mouthed more; while shaking his head as negation._

" _Why? I thought you wanted to play footsy underneath the table? Or was it a hand in your boxer game?" She replied, tit for tat._

" _What? You're giving me the silent treatment now?" Elijah turned his head toward his wife and her "much stiffed" sitting position. "You sulk? I hate a woman who pout for no reason."_

" _Then, play with yourself if my pouting is not to your satisfaction!" Katerina replied, dryly; to her husband. "You would prefer to side with your brother than having my hands buried in your pants!"_

" _Oh you did not just say that to me, woman?!" Elijah exclaimed, in shock; while shaking his head in disbelief. "What brought this on, for God sake, Katerina?"_

_Carolina giggled on the backseat, her head tucked in the right hollow of Klaus's shoulder to mute her laughter, while softly kissing his neck and keeping increase movements on his hardness._

" _Stop; or I'll come!" Klaus growled, his head leaning backward on his backseat. Little witch that she was! Carolina knew exactly when and where to put pressure or gently stroke him. If she continued this way; it wouldn't be long that he would literally come in his own boxer!_

" _Say you're sorry to my sister; and I'll consider letting your "balls" go." She softly whispered, squeezing the said mentioned balls; while sliding her hot lips on his jaw line._

_Klaus growled, both in ecstasy and anger over his wife's demand._

" _You'll pay for this, Carolina!" He warner her, under clenched teeth. "Sooner, or later…But you'll pay!"_

" _I can't hardly wait." She started to nibble on his bottom lip._

" _It's not like you're very affectionate in public; your brother is right!" Katerina shrugged her shoulders._

" _Are you serious?" Elijah look at her, a mouth opened expression plastered on his lips._

" _I don't know; I think you're a reserved guy." She shrugged some more, before feeling Elijah's right hand grab hers._

" _That's because what's between me and my wife, is actually between me and my wife! And that's also because I have too much respect for "you". And I wouldn't want one of us to display our private love making in front of others, like … let say having sex in the backseat of a car; while others are sitting upfront!" Elijah listed his feelings, while taking a quick glance at his brother in the rear-view mirror._

" _I'm sorry, I acted childishly." Katerina replied, while turning her sight toward the Original._

" _Apology accepted, Katerina." He smiled, while bringing his wife's hand to his lips; softly kissing the inside of her wrist to create a range of shivers down on her spine._

" _Carolina, that's enough!" Klaus finally managed to pull his wife's hand from his boxer; under her subtle laughter and amusement. "Katerina, I'm sorry for the way I talked to you before." He finally presented his apologies, way too scared of having his wife play the second act on him!_

" _You are what?" Both Elijah and Katerina exclaimed, simultaneously, at Klaus's apology._

" _See, Katerina. My husband can recognize his mistakes and present his humble apology to you." Carolina added, while winking at Klaus; under his loud growls of anger._

" _Is it true, Klaus? You're apologizing to me for before?" Katerina turned her sight toward her brother-in-law._

" _Yah, well … Let's not dwell on it, shall we." Klaus mumbled, between closed teeth._

" _I can hardly recognized my brother Nicklaus! I wonder what kind of persuasion tactics Carolina used on you?" Elijah winked at his sister-in-law, in the rear-view mirror._

" _Can you drive and keep your sight on the road, Elijah!" Klaus snapped back at his brother._

" _You seem to have a few hidden talents, my dear." Elijah added, under muffled laugher._

" _If so, they are talents that I will only share with my husband." Carolina replied, redness filling her cheeks._

* * *

_**Jeep 1…** _

" _So quiet, Maria; the cat cut your tongue?" Mikael teased, while glancing at Petrov from the corners of his eyes._

" _The same cat certainly did not cut yours, my friend." Petrov commented, under both of their laughter._

" _When you think that you have reached hell…" George whispered near Maria's right ear._

"… _And suddenly you realize that you are reaching it now?" She continued the bodyguard's sentence, while winking at him._

_They both stared at each other, smiles spreading on their lips; while a bit of redness starting to fill Maria's cheeks._

" _What are you whispering behind our backs?" Mikael growled, unhappy._

" _Oh come on, Mikael, act with respect; after all they are in their honeymoon stage." Petrov replied, a rictus raising the right side of his manly lips._

" _I would sincerely appreciate if the both of you could keep your remarks for yourselves!" Maria suggested, under clenched teeth._

" _They are not worth of your time or consideration, Maria." George growled, unhappy, himself._

" _See? You've managed to upset my guests; Mikael." Petrov shook his head, falsely disturbed. "When will you learn to act accordingly to the situation?"_

" _That's the worse load of crap I've ever heard coming from your mouth, Petrov!" Mikael shook his head, in disbelief._

" _Why? Because I'm polite and courteous to both Maria and her new … What are you exactly, George? Her lover, boyfriend, plaything or the moment, perhaps?"_

" _A gentleman wouldn't even ask such a question in front of a lady. I would ask you to present your apology to her, but I doubt that you know the meaning of it?" George mumbled, angrily; between his teeth. "What Maria and I are to each other is none of your damn business, and it should stay that way."_

" _A gentleman? A gentleman? Where does he sees one?" Mikael busted into loud laughter. "In you, Petrov? My dear George you obviously need glasses."_

" _Now, now … Behave, Mikael." Petrov smirked, while gesturing his right hand to the Original. "I have my moments when and where I can act like a true gentleman."_

" _Is this really necessary, Ludvig? You wanted to make a point of mocking me. Can we move on from your fun time, now?" Maria sighed loudly; arms crossed over her chest._

" _If you're thinking that I'm mocking you, Ingrid; you're sadly mistaking." Petrov take a glance at her in the rear-view mirror. "You couldn't be further from the truth, woman. Can I be concerned about your choice in man? For old time sake?" He questioned._

" _I'm falling for George…He's a kind and wonderful man." She finally admitted under the speechless expression of the bodyguard. It was the only way those jerks would back off from their childish games, she thought to herself._

" _You fell for me once…" Petrov commented after a brief silence. "But, sadly you're not remembering it."_

ooOoo

" _ **Thank you for coming tonight." Ingrid (Esther/Maria) nodded, while taking a walk through to the small path leading them toward the lake. "It meant a lot to my family, and to my son Finn." She added, a ghost of a smile blessing her lips.**_

_**The camp fire had been set under a night sky filled with bright stars; where the children, from both villages, could play and dance during the evening.** _

" _ **It meant a lot to my people too." Ludvig returned her smile; with a hand gesture to tell her to pass in front of his own steps. "I'm not sure your husband is welcoming us with open arms though?"**_

_**Ingrid held her pace, while closing her eyes for a few seconds.** _

" _ **He's grateful that you've saved our son; he's just …" She tried to find the right words.**_

" _ **He knows what we are … And … That's what you're trying to tell me, Ingrid?" Ludgiv placed both of his large hands on her shoulders, before slowly turning her body around to face him.**_

" _ **Yes." Ingrid nodded. "But; he's changing since you've saved Finn's life, he's starting to comprehend that we are all probably meant to live in harmony and peace on this earth." She tried to reassure their guest.**_

" _ **You're a good woman, Ingrid." Ludvig commented, his sight drown in hers. "And… you're also very beautiful." He added, his sight slowly sliding from her breaded blonde hair, to the conservative cleavage of her blue dress; before his eyes could brush her breasts, under her sudden blushing and discomfort. "I mean, pardon my directness, your husband is a lucky man."**_

" _ **Thank you." She finally managed to say, under a shortness of breaths.**_

" _ **Is it a private conversation or can a man join?" They both heard Yngve's (Mikael's) voice, before turning on themselves to face his approach on the small path.**_

" _ **Of course." Ingrid smiled to her husband. "I was telling Ludvig that the night couldn't have been more enjoyable for this celebration." She added, before sliding her left arm underneath the one of her husband.**_

" _ **Thank you for inviting us." Ludvig nodded at Yngve's (Mikael's) arrival; as a sign of respect.**_

" _ **It's me who should thank you, once more, for saving my son's life." Yngve landed his left hand on the guest's left shoulder. "What would you say, Ludvig; if I would propose to you a friendly duel?"**_

" _ **At this late hour? You can't be serious?" Ingrid glanced at her husband, with much concerns.**_

" _ **There are no late hours for Vikings like us, is there, Ludvig?" Yngve pulled Ludvig toward him; while leading them both toward the village. "After all, the children are still up; therefore it can't be this late." He winked at his new friend.**_

" _ **How could I ever refuse a friendly duel with you?" Ludvig grinned, with anticipation. It has been too long since he had enjoyed the fun game of a duel – This would be a blessing in disguise, even if it was just a friendly joust.**_

" _ **Are you coming my dear?" Yngve inquired, while turning his head back toward his wife's standing position.**_

" _ **In a minute." Ingrid reassured him, while watching them walk back toward the big camp fire. She closed her eyes, raising both hands on her burning cheeks. What she had felt in the presence of Ludvig, even for a split of a second, needed to be forgotten.**_

_**ooOoo** _

" _Even if I could remember it… It was still a long time ago, Ludvig." Maria finally replied, under a huge lie; while turning her head toward her passenger window. She had started to remember bits and pieces, while seeing images in her head; but had kept it for herself. It was still a big blur to her._

" _My ex-wife and ex-friend are reminiscing about their past relationship in my presence? How truly refreshing!" Mikael growled, unhappy._

" _Hey? I thought we were friends again?" Ludvig mocked, while smirking._

" _Fat chance of that happening; we're simply fighting for the same cause and against the same enemy." Mikael added, before turning his head to glance at Maria. "I bet you had forgotten my presence in this vehicle as well, my dear?"_

" _Oh that Mikael couldn't even be possible if I would try!" Maria replied, dryly, while rolling her eyes; under both of their laughter._

_She suddenly felt Georges' fingers interlacing with her own; with a subtle squeeze of his hand to reassure her._

" _Your past doesn't have to be your future, Maria; just remember that, my love." He whispered softly into her ear._

* * *

_The convoy of jeeps entered the dark tunnel in a perfect line of synchronisation and speed. The first vehicle driven by Petrov as the leader, followed by Elijah, Alexay and Damon, with a few other jeeps filled with provisions and bodyguards. Ludvig's vehicle came to a halt. He parked it on the side of the interior road, before rushing outside the jeep._

" _Move your fucking asses out of the jeeps now!" He yelled, while gesturing with both of his arms. "We only have a minute to make the switch!"_

" _What is he talking about?" Katerina strengthened her upper body on her passenger seat; while grabbing Elijah's right forearm. "And who are these people?"_

_A few bystanders were approaching each of the jeeps' positions, with the same gender and number of passengers._

" _He's making a switch. Your father is so brilliant, Klaus!" Carolina exclaimed, with much excitement and a smile spreading on her lips._

" _What do you mean he's making a switch, Carolina?" Katerina turned her head toward her sister._

" _If our enemies are tracking us on this road, Petrov is making the switch to blur their track. These random people will take our places inside the jeeps. When the convoy will exit the tunnel; they will continue to follow it; but we won't be in it." Caroline grinned with excitement. "You should be proud of him!"_

" _I'm ecstatic Carolina; I keep it inside though." Klaus growled, wincing. The single thought to finally grant his biological father an ounce of respect for his heroic way of planning an escape, left him with a sour taste in his mouth._

" _Get out, now!" Elijah exclaimed, while pushing his driver's door open; before stepping outside of the vehicle._

" _Move your asses out of the jeeps, people; quickly!" Mikael exclaimed, waving his arms and hands toward the last two jeeps._

" _We need to get out of the vehicle." Alexay ordered, uncompromisingly; while pushing his own passenger door open._

" _Why? What is happening?" Bonnie turned her head toward Kol._

" _Oh? Some excitement? Vittorio loves excitement!" The warlock clapped his hands._

" _Uncle Petrov is planning a switch, isn't he?" Kol grinned, while rubbing both of his hands together. "He's just a genius! Get out of the car, Bonnie." The Original nodded, in reassurance._

" _Ok, ok…" Bonnie agreed, while grabbing her backpack left at her feet._

" _What the fuck now?" Damon exclaimed, while turning his head toward his brother._

" _I'm not sure, but these four people who are presently walking toward our vehicle and who are looking straight at us. They all look like they want to take our places inside?" Stefan seemed to notice._

" _My father is planning a switch." Anastassia came to the conclusion, a smile spreading on her lips._

" _What do you mean?" Rebekah asked the redhead._

" _Those people will switch places with us. When the convoy will pass the north extremity of the tunnel, we won't be inside of the vehicles." Anastassia informed the blonde Original. "Now get your beautiful ass out of the jeep, Blondie." She added, while stepping outside._

* * *

_The group leaded their walking steps toward the hidden corridor, inside the tunnel. Their heads bended toward their chests because of the low concrete ceiling._

" _What is this place?" Katerina asked Elijah, in a low murmur._

" _A way out of the tunnel, I suppose." He shrugged, while grabbing his wife's left hand in his._

" _Towards where?" Katerina asked, more; while swallowing a lump in her throat. For some kind of a reason, unknown to herself; something was not adding up in her mind?_

" _Safety for you, that is for sure." Elijah softly squeezed her hand in reassurance. "How are you holding up with the blood?" He turned his inquiring sight toward the brunette._

" _I can handle everything with you by my side." She nodded, a ghost of a smile spreading on her lips._

" _I want to do sinful, dirty things to you; but I can't with my entire family by our side." Elijah teased, smirking; while whispering the forbidden words near her left ear._

" _And yet you were judging my sister and your brother, previously in the car?" She raised her amorous sight toward his._

" _I wasn't judging, I was extremely jealous of them, it's not the same, Katerina." He winked at her, before reprising his walking._

" _Where is your father leading us?" Carolina asked her husband, while following his steps in the penumbra of the corridor, her fingers interlacing with his own._

" _Toward safety for you." Klaus responded, toneless._

" _What do you mean for me? Aren't we all in this?" She squeezed his hand to get an answer._

" _Course we are." He frowned, while biting into his bottom lip. If he was not more careful she would smell the subterfuge miles in advance! His wife was not just sexy and pretty … She was extremely intelligent in addition!_

" _What are you hiding from me?" She asked him more. "You're hiding information from me, I can feel it, Klaus?"_

" _Nothing, I know nothing … How could I held information from you, if I know nothing, Carolina?" Klaus replied, with a loud sigh escaping his lips._

" _Fine! Be that way!" She redraw her hand from his, before stepping in front of his own walking path._

" _And where do you think you're going, Love?" He busted, furiously._

" _Far away from your lying face!" She snapped back at him, before suddenly feeling a dizzy spell hitting her by surprise._

" _Carolina!" Klaus shouted her name, before rushing by her side to catch her falling body in his arms._

" _Oh my God! What is happening to her?" Katerina rushed toward Klaus's and her sister's position._

" _I don't know; we were talking and she suddenly lost consciousness." Klaus shook his head, dumbfounded; before lowering her unconscious body on the ground._

" _What's going on?" Anastassia approached the small group, with Damon close on her steps._

" _Like you care?" Klaus snapped at the redhead._

" _Ok, you want to be like that, be like that, asshole!" Anastassia replied, dryly._

" _Now, now, now … Don't start snapping at each other! We have quite enough on our hands as it is." Damon winced at their exchange._

" _Wait, wait… I have a small sample of perfume in my front pocket." Rebekah pulled a small bottle from her pocket._

" _You want to make her smell good; while she's unconscious?" Anastassia shook her head in disbelief._

" _No, Miss "I know everything"; the strong smell of the perfume could wake her up, did you even think of that?" She kneeled near Carolina, before handing the bottle to Klaus._

" _That could actually be a good idea, Rebekah." Maria reached the commotion, before softly caressing her daughter's cheeks. George placed at a few feet of distance from her standing position. "I'm sure; this is nothing to worry about – Carolina probably forgot to eat this morning?"_

" _It could work." Klaus nodded, before waving the small container under Carolina's nostrils._

" _Damn if I didn't know better, brother dearest; I would say that you got your girl knocked up!" Anastassia mocked, with a small laugher._

" _Obviously, you know nothing!" Klaus lashed out at his half-sister._

" _Ok, come with me; before you could make more damage with your snaky tongue!" Damon pulled Anastassia at a few feet of distance from the group._

" _Hey! You're not my boss!" She squirmed to free herself of his strong grip._

" _She's pregnant." Alexay whispered near Petrov's head, who has held his walking pace to wait for the group, at a near setback standing position._

" _It was to be expected." Petrov whispered back to his right arm man. "That's why the plan is the best solution we could have come up with. We need to keep Carolina safe."_

" _You're right." Alexay agreed with a single nod of the head._

_Carolina finally opened her eyes, while coughing several times at the strong smell of the perfume._

" _What is this?" She raised her sight at her husband and sister._

" _Bad taste in perfume, obviously!" Anastassia commented, from a few feet of distance._

" _Oh just make her shut-up Damon, would you?!" Rebekah shouted at the vampire._

" _Can you stand, Love?" Klaus asked, mostly concerned; while sliding his left arm around her waist._

" _Yes." Carolina nodded, a smile spreading on her lips. "Wow! I'm literally the weakest link in this group, aren't I?" She came to the conclusion, while losing her smile._

" _Don't say that, it's not true." Klaus responded, while brushing her forehead of a sweet kiss. "Are you feeling better?"_

" _I'm better. It's entirely my fault I forgot to eat breakfast this morning." Carolina explained herself, shyly._

" _Here!" Kol brought Carolina a granola bar, after Bonnie had handed one to him, from her backpack._

" _Thanks' bro?" Carolina grabbed the bar, before unwrapping its paper._

" _De nada, Sis!" He winked back at her._

" _Ok, people; Carolina is fine; we need to move now." Elijah yelled to the group._

" _Why do I feel there's more to my human daughter-in-law unconsciousness than a simple lack of vitamins and iron in her blood?" Mikael crossed his arms in front of his chest, while approaching Petrov's standing position._

" _Because you have a wild imagination, my friend." Petrov smiled, before reprising his walking steps inside the concrete corridor._

" _Or maybe, it's because I can smell a dead rat, when there is one near?" Mikael added, without Petrov answering his imply._

* * *

_Elijah glanced at Klaus, who nodded discreetly; before glancing in return at Kol, Stefan and Damon; who nodded, themselves, in return._

" _So, uncle Petrov…" Kol exclaimed, out of the blue. "Brilliant plan of yours, the "switch" thing, I mean."_

" _Except from the fact that all of you almost ruined it! 1 minute 15 seconds; you made me lose 15 precious seconds of my scheduled plan! It could have easily ruined everything!" Ludvig growled unhappy; while leading the marching group toward an additional hidden corridor inside the tunnel._

" _Give them a chance, Petrov; they are young apprentices after all." Mikael commented, under a small laughter._

" _Well, so sorry your highness!" Kol made a comical reverence. "If we had known that you had planned this switch, we would have moved our asses quicker!"_

" _Kol, lower you voice!" Bonnie grabbed the Original's right upper arm to retain his momentum._

" _Tell me something young Mikaelson?" Petrov turned on himself, while approaching Kol's standing position. "You think I'm a fool? You think I don't plan ahead, that I'm not trying to cover my tracks?"_

" _Didn't say that." Kol shook his head. "I think you're actually a brilliant man, Ludivg Petrov." He added. "The proof, my brother Nicklaus is certainly one heck of a hybrid. And don't we always say that the apple don't fall far from the tree, right?" He commented more. "But, you're inconsiderate, stubborn, and you'll think about yourself before the others."_

" _If he was not your son, I would kill him on the spot!" Ludvig growled; while glancing at Mikael._

" _Present your apologies to Ludvig, now, Kol!" Mikael grabbed his son by the shoulders, his sight drown in his._

" _Go to hell! It's not like I'll listen to you. You're no better than him; you've abandoned your own children for so long that you have forgotten how to be a father to them." Kol spitted in his father's face._

" _That's enough!" Maria exclaimed, dryly._

" _Sorry." Petrov nodded. "Please accept our apologies for this loud exchange of harsh words, Maria."_

" _You're all acting like children. We have enough on our hands with this lethal threat above our heads, we don't need to put your huge egos in top of everything!" Maria added._

" _You're right, Maria; all of you women don't need to put this on your shoulders." George took a step forward the patriarch woman, under her inquiring sight; before entering a syringe in her neck. "Shush, you'll be fine." He whispered near her left ear, before catching her falling body in his arms._

" _What the hell is going on, father?" Anastassia exclaimed, in shock; before feeling a syringe entering her upper arm. "Damon?" She turned on herself to face the young vampire, disappointment plastered on her face._

" _Sorry baby!" Damon let a shy smile spread on his face, before catching the redhead in his arms._

" _Don't you…" Rebekah pointed a finger toward Stefan, before falling in his arms herself._

" _I got you, Rebekah." He whispered, while softly caressing her hair; easing her fall into unconsciousness._

" _You do this, Elijah; and I'll never forgive you!" Katerina pointed a finger toward her husband, who held a syringe in his right hand; before taking a few steps away from him._

" _It's a chance I'll have to take, beautiful." He responded, while swallowing a lump in his throat; a wave of regrets taking his soul hostage. This was killing him! But they have all put this plan into motions to keep them all safe, after all._

_The brunette vampire rushed toward the opposite side of the corridor, before feeling two strong hands pulling her back toward him, with a firm grip on his waist._

" _No, no … Elijah; please?" Katerina begged him, before feeling the needle entering her neck. "No…" She sobbed, tears rolling on her cheeks; before slowly closing her eyes._

" _I'm so sorry, so, so sorry, Katerina." He whispered, while holding his wife tightly near his chest, his head tucked in the hollow of her right shoulder._

" _What are you waiting for?" Carolina raised her chin in the air, with her cold gaze drown in the emptiness of the corridor. She raised her left upper arm in front of her husband's sight. "I won't scream, or battle against you, if this is what you're afraid of. I, pretty much, don't care what you could do to me." She shrugged her shoulders, indifferent._

" _I don't have a syringe on me." Klaus shook his head, while swallowing a lump in his throat. "What we did, it's for … It's for your own good, Love. We need to keep all of you safe from this threat."_

" _Fuck you, Klaus!" Carolina replied, slyly. "Fuck all of you, for thinking that we are weak as women and that we serve no purpose to all of you!" She growled more. "Especially me, because I'm a human!" She busted, in a louder voice._

" _I'm sorry, please forgive me, Carolina?" He begged, while pulling her near his chest; before placing a handkerchief in front of her parted lips._

_She let a stifled cry escape her mouth; squirming, kicking her four members to free herself from the drug; before falling into a deep unconsciousness for the second time around._

* * *

" _You take on additional step and I'll kill you; I swear I'll set your ass on fire, Kol!" Bonnie pointed a finger at the Original, anger spreading in her body faster than a wild fire would burn a house._

_She had rushed away from the scene after seeing Maria being drugged; running away as fast as she had been able to, to reach some kind of exit._

" _Ok, ok, darling … Look I don't have any syringe on me!" Kol raised both of his opened palms, as a peace offering. "Can we talk?"_

" _Why … Why did you drug the others?" She stammered through her sentence. "So it was all a setup from the beginning?"_

" _We want all of you safe, Bonnie. We can't risk all of your life in this battle against the church." Kol replied, honestly to her; while lowering both his arms and hands down. "And yes; we have all agreed with Petrov's plan; except we didn't know when it would take place, and we had no idea about the switch in the tunnel." He added, before taking a step toward her._

" _Stay where you are!" Bonnie warned him, once more. "Or I swear…" She added, taking a deep breath inside her lungs; before raising her hand on her neck; where a needle was embedded in her skin._

" _I'm sorry, Bonnie." Kol rushed to catch her falling body in his arms, before turning his head toward Alexay; who was holding a gun in his hand. "Thank you."_

" _Don't mention it." Alexay nodded._


	30. Fool me twice ...

" _Where did your men brought them?" Stefan inquired, while lowering his head to avoid hitting the low concrete ceiling. "Are they safe?"_

" _Underground shelter. And, yes they are safe." Petrov replied, without much explanation; leading the group of men, in lower underground corridors. "Where do you think I'm bringing you now?"_

" _Is this place safe?" Damon asked, himself. "Not to sound too pretentious, but I'm not entirely sure the ladies will appreciate being buried alive underneath the ground!" He added, wincing._

" _And yet, Mister Salvatore, "pretentious" is exactly what you're sounding at the moment!" Ludvig rolled his eyes, letting a low sigh escape his lips._

" _Then, you can count all of us as_ _ **pretentious**_ _fools." Elijah growled, unhappy; while grabbing the Russian's man right upper arm to make him turn on himself. "Are they safe? This is not a rhetorical question, Petrov?"_

" _Yes, Elijah;_ _ **they are safe**_ _." Petrov replied, while lowering his sight on his upper arm. "Now, let go of my arm?" He raised an eyebrow at the Original._

_Elijah kept his eyes locked with the Russian man, in an intense stare, for a few additional seconds, before finally releasing his grip on him._

" _Thank you. Think logically, my own daughter is in this underground compound, you think I would risk her life?" Ludvig snapped back, pointing a finger toward the far end of the corridor. "I thought you wanted your delightful wife, the beautiful Katerina, to be safe, Elijah? Or did I mistake your demand?"_

" _You could have easily set all of us into a trap, Petrov; I wouldn't pass this option as a feasible one for yourself." Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his teeth; by coming between his brother and father, bulged chest against bulged chest._

" _Being my own flesh and blood and still doubting me as I can see, Klaus?" Petrov raised his chin at his son. "Think with your head for a change. You have a human wife, and your brother has a young vampire one on his hands; how long would you think they would be able to stand in a combat in front of that monster?"_

" _I'll always doubt you; you haven't given me valid reasons to think otherwise." Klaus responded, harshly. "But, unfortunately…" He added, closing his eyes while letting a loud growl escape his lips. "This time, you're also right."_

" _Well, thank you for granting me that acknowledgement." Petrov nodded. "And by the way, all I can think of is your happiness, Nicklaus." He added, truthfully._

" _Is she… Are they? Safe, I mean?" Elijah questioned, closed fists placed on each side of his waist, before passing a hand through his tangled hair and the tensed muscles of his face._

" _For the hundreds of times, yes…The delightful Katerina and Carolina are both safe, your mother is also safe, they all are!" Petrov replied, dryly. "Are they ignorant or simply retarded?" The Russian man turned his sight toward Mikael._

" _A bit of both, I presume." Mikael let a small laughter escape his lips. "Then again, my dear Ludvig; you must have forgotten how it was to be in love?" He added, winking; with a friendly slap on his higher back. "These young fools are in love; they wouldn't recognize their tails from their heads."_

" _Well, actually pappy Mikaelson. I'll politely disagree with you say!" Damon commented, while lowering his sight on his crutch area. "I'm looking at my manhood at the moment, and I can be certain, without a single doubt, that between my head and my most precious belonging, Anastassia will not hesitate to cut my balls down there, instead of my head, up here!" The young vampire pointed toward his head._

" _Eww… As if the constant need to throw up, while in your presence, wasn't enough of an ordeal for me; you need to add to my suffering with these sick visuals, Salvatore?" Kol shook his shoulders, wincing. "And if someone should complain about all of this, it's actually me! Miss Bennett won't have any problems or remorse turning me as a bellowing goat."_

" _And why would my precious daughter need to even choose between those two body parts, Mister Damon?" Petrov advanced, while menacingly pushing the young vampire up to the back wall._

" _No…not a single one, none… No reason at all." Damon swallowed a lump in his throat, standing nose to nose with the Russian man._

" _Ok, ok … Uncle Petrov; I presume you did not have your fair dose of caffeine this morning, mm?" Kol grabbed the Alpha by the shoulders; while bringing him at arm length from Damon. "But, you know; you're still my favorite none-related uncle; right?" He winked, playfully, while turning his head toward Damon._

" _Thank you!" Damon mouthed the words in return to the Original._

" _Get your arm away from my shoulders, Kol?" Petrov growled, while pushing himself away to reprise his walk into the corridor. "Isn't he the most annoying of all your children, Mikael?"_

" _I don't know? I think you're still winning with this insufferable son of yours." Mikael winced at Klaus's sight; while following Petrov's path inside the corridors._

" _Well, finally; something that we can agree about, Mikael; disliking each other with a healthy dose of hate." Klaus grinned, sadistically._

" _See, what I mean?" Mikael pointed toward Klaus, to Petrov._

" _Aren't we hating each other and still being friends at the same time?" Petrov teased, playfully._

" _Friends? I can't barely stand the side of you." Mikael rolled his eyes, laughing._

" _Where's the insect, anyway?" Kol scattered both sides of the corridor._

" _Who are you talking about?" Stefan shrugged both shoulders._

" _The annoying warlock with annoying wondering eyes." Kol shook his head at the mere thought._

" _Vittorio is one of my best pawns. I owe him grandly, Kol; so … I would appreciate if you could respect him as such." Petrov warned him._

" _I figure that you never felt his hand at a near inch of your crotch area, therefore, you can respect him more?" Kol winced at the idea._

" _Since when are you so "shy" over the sexual preferences of others, Kol?" Stefan questioned, under a small laughter. "Thousands of years on this earth, and you never experienced anything of the sort? Well, minus the time that your brother put you in a box, that is." He turned his head, pointing toward Klaus._

" _Well, thank you for the shout out, Stefan." Klaus winked at his friend._

" _I did not meant any insult, you know?" Stefan teased the hybrid._

" _None taken." Klaus replied, smirking._

" _Oh for God sake, I'm not shy, Salvatore… As long as the said gay or bisexual man prefer someone else than little "me"!" Kol replied, while waving a finger in the air. "I, for myself, prefer the beautiful curves of a woman's breasts and butt." He added, smiling._

" _He means the subtle curves of a certain cappuccino flavor witch." Damon whispered, mockingly._

" _Did someone asked for your input, Salvatore?" Kol turned on himself to face the said man._

" _Nope. I'm just passing the time while I'm in the worst company I could ever imagine!" Damon replied, while passing by Kol's standing position._

" _I'm having the worst headache possible at the moment." Petrov robbed his tensed temples._

" _I would gladly help you, but then again; I pretty much don't care!" George shrugged, smirking; while advancing from his silent and setback position to walk by their sides._

" _Oh? Look! I had almost forgotten that my ex-wife puddle-slash-lover was actually part of the fun!" Mikael pointed toward George, mockingly._

" _Not easy to handle a bunch of children, is it, Petrov?" George teased, disregarding Mikael's say to him, with a smile spreading on his manly lips. "And I'm actually including Maria's ex-husband in the bunch."_

" _I think the young man was able to articulate a question to you." Mikael added, perniciously._

" _You won't be offended, I hope; if I actually see you as one of those children also, George?" Ludvig replied, smirking; while holding his pace to face the young vampire. "After all, how many years of difference between you and Maria?"_

" _Well, you know what they say, Petrov. A younger man in a woman's bed makes her more sexually satisfy after all, than an old one." George replied, while patting Ludvig's left cheek with his right hand._

" _It's one – zero for George; my friend." Mikael made the allusion to the Russian man; while retaining his laughter._

" _I want to marry Rebecca… Who's willing to give her hand to me in marriage?" Stefan blurred out the question from nowhere, while making the men's walk come to an abrupt halt._

* * *

" _What did you just say?" Elijah turned on himself to face the young vampire._

" _I want to marry your sister, Elijah; if you're willing to give her hand to me in marriage." Stefan repeated, solemnly; while nodding his head._

" _Are you sick or something? Fever? Drugs? Hallucinogenic?" Klaus approached his friend, cupping his face; while drowning his sight in Stefan's._

" _Would you just let go of me, Klaus?" Stefan pushed Klaus's hands away._

" _Ok; let me find a seat somewhere?" Damon dropped his butt on the floor; while lowering his back on the wall. "You may proceed; I don't want to miss a single moment of this ordeal." He added, smirking._

" _When you think "things" can't get worst, they actually are; aren't they?" Kol dropped his butt near Damon's sitting position. "Pity we don't have popcorns!"_

" _What? You knew about this proposal?" Elijah addressed his concerns to Damon._

" _Well, yah… My brother, here present; informed your sister Rebekah, Anastassia and myself of his fore come intention of marrying her." Damon nodded his head._

" _Damn! We're going to the chapel; you hear that Uncle Petrov?" Kol teased, shrugging his shoulders in a playful way; while making Ludvig roll his eyes to the low corridor ceiling. "Maybe you could actually pay for the all event?" He mocked more, winking._

" _First of all, young man…It's not Elijah's prerogative to give his approval or blessing, it is "I" who should!" Mikael pushed his way toward Stefan._

" _Oh, are you serious, Mikael?" Stefan exclaimed, outraged. "It's not like you've won the best father of the year award!"_

" _So this is for real?" Klaus asked, in shock._

" _Of course, this is for real! Why is everybody doubting my say?" Stefan scattered the group, mouth opened._

" _Well, in all honesty, Stefan, it's not that we are doubting your say per say, but… My sister and you weren't on best terms for the longest time." Elijah came to the mere conclusion; with a single shrug._

" _Well; it's changed now. I want to share my life… Or should I say my eternal life with Rebekah." Stefan replied, truthfully._

" _Are you sure? It's lunatic Rebekah we're talking about?" Kol commented, astonished by this sudden turn of events._

" _Kol, could you just shut up?" Klaus gave a kick on his brother's calf._

" _Ouch! It's not like you're not thinking the same, Klaus! It's Rebekah we're talking about, after all?" Kol replied, while rubbing the skin of his calf. "Do you see her married to this guy – Or any guy?"_

" _Hey? It's me you're talking about!" Stefan objected, vehemently._

" _For God sake, can you just all shut up for a minute?" Petrov lashed out, while bringing his walky-talky near his right ear. "Speak!" He placed the order, before hearing Alexay's voice coming out of the device._

" _They all woke up, and are pacing back and forth in their cell. Plus, they are in a terrible mood." Alexay warned, dryly._

" _Perfect!" Petrov stroke his eyelids. "We're on our way." He ended the exchange. "Gentlemen, if it's not too much of a bother, we'll reprise the wedding talk later. Our women are awaiting us, and our goodbyes to them."_

* * *

" _This is ridiculous! Who do you think they are?" Rebekah cursed, while pacing back and forth in the large cell. "Men… Stupid men, that's what they are!" She added, loudly; while gesturing with her opened arms. "And what is this place, anyway?" She turned her head and sight toward Anastassia._

" _Underground cells my father build many years ago to secure his people's life." The Russian woman replied, comfortably sitting on one of the bunk beds; while bouncing a tennis ball on the opposite wall._

" _They are hybrids, immortals for God sake; why would Petrov need this place for their safety?" Rebekah asked, dumbfounded._

" _They weren't hybrids a short time ago, they could have easily been killed with a sharp piece of wood." Anastassia shrugged her shoulders, mostly uninterested by Rebekah's questions._

" _Could you just pay attention for a minute, Queen of the Castle?" Rebekah caught the ball in her left hand._

" _Hey! I was playing with that ball – give it back?" The Redhead raised on both legs to face the female Original._

" _Are you deaf or blind? This… All of this "shit" is not raising your anger at all?" Rebekah exclaimed, dumbfounded._

" _Of course, all of "this" is raising my anger, princess!" Anastassia stomped both of her feet on the concrete floor. "What do you think I am, a fool?" She added, furiously. "You think I'm not hating myself for having been blind to my father's master plan to get rid of me?"_

" _Oh, sweet child!" Maria exclaimed, while raising on her legs from her sitting position at a nearby table. "I don't really think that your father was aiming to get rid of you per say. He …" She closed her eyes, while taking a deep breath inside her lungs. "They all wanted for us to be save."_

" _What do you know, anyway? Do you think that fucking my father many centuries ago gives you the privilege to know everything about him?" Anastassia snapped back at Maria._

" _Shut up, bitch! You're talking to my mother!" Rebekah pushed the Russian woman on the back wall._

" _That's enough both of you!" Maria raised her voice; while making them startle at the order. "I won't accept such vulgar display of anger from either of you, am I clear?"_

_Both women kept silent, with both arms crossed in front of their respective chest, chins raised in a pouting gesture._

" _Rebekah, you need to lower your temper!" Maria added, while approaching her daughter's standing position. "I won't tolerate such behavior from my own daughter, am I clear?"_

" _Yes; Maria." Rebekah growled, unhappy._

" _As for you, young lady; I'm not the enemy here; regardless of you thinking the contrary of me." Maria stood her say and foot on the ground. "It's a fact that I've shared a connection with your father in the past, and that from that brief affair, Nicklaus, your brother, was born. Now I won't apologize to you for either of these events; it wouldn't grant us anything more at the end of the day." She added, hands crossed over her chest. "You're a beautiful woman, with a dynamic personality; don't ruin your assets, young lady, by becoming insufferable!"_

" _No one have ever talked to me this way!" Anastassia mumbled, angrily, between her teeth._

" _Well, let me be the first one then." Maria replied, dryly. "It's clear even to a blind that you need both discipline and love."_

" _Whatever." Anastassia shrugged, before jumping back into a lying position, on the bottom one of the bunk beds._

" _You know; all things consider, Maria; I'm still hesitating into using my witch power between turning your son Kol into the biggest pig there is or a giant fly on the wall, that I could easily mash up with my closed fist, ideas girls?" Bonnie turned her head to scatter the small group._

" _Second option sounds about right to me." Rebecca shrugged, uninterested to say the least; by her brother's future as a fly._

" _Can I help mashing up the bastard?" Anastassia suggested, a huge smile spreading on her lips._

" _It seems quite unanimous? But I wouldn't do something that you did not approve beforehand, Maria?" Bonnie seemed to feel a slight remorse._

" _A young woman who seems to have such doubt regarding her vengeance toward my son, is probably a young woman who has already gave a part of her heart to him, or am I mistaking, my dear Bonnie?" Maria questioned, amused; the right corner of her lips raising into a smile._

" _He can go to hell for what I care!" Bonnie growled, while biting into her bottom lip. "I'm not, and never will be, the belonging of a man! I'm my own person and it's "me" who should chose for myself – It's certainly not the man who I'm sleep… I mean, "dating", who will decide for myself!"_

" _Well, I can't argue to that." Maria sighed loudly; while raising her eyes to the low ceiling of their cell. "They have acted without respect to your wishes; even if..." Maria pointed a finger in the air. "Their initial thought was to spare all of us from danger."_

" _At least Bonnie finally came up with a reasonable and enjoyable plan to lock them all in hell!" Katerina busted, angrily. "Where the burning flame will eat their big asses!" She added, pacing back and forth in front of the cell's bars._

" _Hear… Hear…" Rebecca raised her closed right fist in the air, in approval._

" _I'm seriously thinking of roasting Damon Salvatore's balls on top of an opened fire." Anastassia grinned; while sliding her left forearm underneath her head. "His cries of pain is already filling me with happiness."_

" _You're a true romantic, aren't you?" Rebekah winced at the single thought._

" _Don't tell me you'll let his brother's action slide?" Anastassia turned her head toward the female Original._

" _Oh dear, you're so unaware of what_ _ **Rebekah Mikaelson**_ _is made of, aren't you?" Rebekah let a small laughter escape her lips._

" _My sweet, Katerina; I understand your anger toward your husband, but …" Maria approached the young female vampire's standing position, while trying to ease her anger._

" _Oh… There's no "but" about it, Maria; do you even realize how much I had to endure since I've married that man? Your son Elijah?" Katerina cut short her sentence, tears filling her eyes. "I went to hell and back for him; I gave all of myself, I was even turned by him." She lashed out, hitting her closed fist on her chest. "And yet, I forgive him once more."_

" _I know my dear, I was present; but getting yourself all worked up over my eldest will not help the present situation at all." Maria came to the logical conclusion. "Instead, you should hold your ground against him; becoming your "own" woman."_

" _Oh believe me, I'll hold my ground; alright… My vengeance will be lethal, and delightful." Katerina let a devious smile spread on her pulpous lips._

" _Well, that's not fair, tell us?" Rebekah shouted, childishly._

_Katerina lowered her head near Maria's before whispering a few words in her ear._

" _Oh no, Katerina… This is … I wouldn't … I mean…" Maria stammered through her response; laughter escaping her lips a few seconds later. "It's wicked and really mean of your part; and it will kill him. Well; until he'll realize that it wasn't real that is."_

" _Isn't it the point after all, Maria? To take my revenge on him?" Katerina arched an eyebrow; arms crossed over her chest, her head tilted to the right. "You know how proud he is about "his" possession, right?"_

" _Well, it's not like Elijah did not ask for it. They all did!" Maria snapped, herself; while nervously rubbing both hands together; before turning her head toward a very silent Carolina, who sat on a cushion, in a left corner of the cell; while holding a book in her hands. "Carolina, my sweet child?" She called, softly._

" _Did you even notice the quantity and quality of books they left for us?" Carolina raised in the air the book she was reading and holding in her hands. "This new Edition of "Pride and Prejudice" is just perfect." She added, smiling; before reprising her read._

_Maria turned a worried look toward Katerina and the rest of the female group._

" _Are you ok, my dear?" Maria asked, mostly concerned. "You seem … Calmer than usual?" She asked, while approaching Carolina's sitting position._

" _I do?" Carolina replied, her smile now plastered on her lips. "Well, I'm enjoying the read, Maria; it's quite good."_

" _You're telling me that you're able to read "Pride and Prejudice", like "now", at this instant, after what those bastards have done to us?" Anastassia straightened herself in a sitting position. "Hey sister-in-law? Something in the head is not working right?" She added, while pointing toward her right temple._

" _Yes, Anastassia; I'm enjoying the book immensely; thank you for asking. There's something very poetic in the way Elizabeth Bennett is literally holding her ground against Mr. Darcy." Carolina commented, grinning._

" _Anastassia, for God sake who thought you to be so crude in your say?" Maria exclaimed, in shock._

" _My father! Sorry Maria if I'm not reaching your standard of lady-like appropriate." The Russian woman made a reverence, while jumping on her feet._

" _My dear, I wasn't present to teach my own daughter how to behave; that doesn't mean she turned badly?" Maria raised a good argument._

" _That's "highly" debatable, if I may say." Anastassia rolled her eyes._

" _You know what, Anastassia, go fuck yourself!" Rebekah lashed out._

" _See what I mean? That's what you're calling "lady-like"?" Anastassia pointed toward Rebekah._

" _Never been so happy in all my life to not be related to any of you!" Bonnie commented. "No offense, Maria."_

" _None taken." Maria replied, while sighing loudly._

" _My sister has always been the "romantic" type between the two." Katerina explained, with a shrug. "I've never seen the world with the pink glasses that my sister was wearing." She continued. "And then; I met your asshole of a son; and look at me, now?" She grabbed the bars with both hands. "Stock in a cell, because he has decided I was not worthy of fighting by his side."_

" _And that is exactly where you're wrong about me, sister. You see, Elizabeth is a human girl; right? And yet, she was intelligent enough to literally play Mr. Darcy to his own game." Carolina commented more; while flipping the pages._

" _Oh, I see from where this is coming from." Maria closed her eyes, trying to find courage within herself to address the issued. "My sweet Carolina, the fact that you are human has nothing to do with their decision of holding us hostage."_

" _Please, forgive me for my bad language, Maria. I couldn't give more of a "Fuck" at the present moment." Carolina lowered her book on her lap. "Because, I knew since the minute we left Petrov's mansion that "all" of this would happen."_

" _What do you mean you knew?" Anastassia approached their positions; arms crossed over her chest._

" _Simple logical deduction of a human girl." Carolina raised her sight to the Russian bombshell, a huge smile spreading on her lips._

" _Even so, your "epiphany" is not changing the game as of now, is it?" Anastassia snapped back. "We are still stuck in this cell!"_

" _No, it's not changing anything at the moment, but my "own" revenge on Petrov certainly will. Care to know?" Carolina replied, looking round on all their dumbfounded expressions plastered on their faces._

* * *

_Petrov lead the way inside the last corridor leading all the men to the cells. It has been decided that one last visit to the women would be essential before leading their mutual walking steps toward the mountains._

" _Ladies!" Petrov greeted them all, a huge welcoming smile spreading on his lips; while approaching the bars of their cells. "I can see that you are finding the accommodations to your liking? Be reassured that this is temporary. In a couple of days, you'll be transported, for lack of better words, to a secure location; into one of my recluse and very private residence."_

" _Hit me again?" Rebekah asked Bonnie; while holding her set of cards in her hands; disregarding the arrival of the men._

_They were all sitting at the table playing poker, excepting for Katerina and Carolina._

" _How lovely, they are ignoring our presence while playing cards!" Kol winced, arms crossed over his chest._

" _Maria, it's your turn?" Bonnie suggested to the eldest. "You know that my power have increased since I've arrived here? And it's kind of annoying that I don't have someone or something to practice my spell on, would you say?" She confessed, devilishly._

" _Oh, they did?" Maria turned her head toward Bonnie. "I'm so sorry; I was so focus in my "hand" of cards that I did not notice that it was my turn." She added, while putting two cards down. "Well, I'm sure that will come a day that you'll be able to use your power on someone or something, my dear Bonnie; it's just a question of time."_

" _Taking two steps away from the cell now." Kol backed away, while swallowing a lump in his throat, sweat rolling on his forehead. "Please, realize my darling Bonnie that this, having you locked up in a cell, was not my idea, ok? And … Take into consideration that there are certain parts of my anatomy that are really precious to me, and to you also, alright?"_

" _Katerina?" Elijah slowly approached the cell, before grabbing the bars with both hands._

_She remained silent, with her eyes closed; while lying on the bottom of one of the bunk beds._

" _Please…" The Original added, while swallowing a lump in his throat. "I need to talk to you, you need to understand… and…" He added. "You're the most precious think that I have, I can't risk losing you; I almost did not so long ago." He concluded, turning his head to give a nasty look to his father Mikael._

" _Oh for God sake, Elijah." Mikael rolled his eyes, "How long will I be held responsible for this unfortunate incident or accident, call it what you want?" He added; angrily. "It's not like you're not enjoying your vampire wife at the moment? Is it?"_

" _Katerina? My son is requesting a meeting with you?" Maria exclaimed, casually turning her head toward the bunk bed, where the young female vampire was resting._

" _Is he?" Katerina opened her eyes. "How annoying, I was resting at the moment."_

" _Oh for God sake, stop fooling around with all of your childish games!" Mikael shouted out at the women, while approaching the cell bars. "You are ungrateful for us wanting to protect all of you that is the most stupid thing ever!"_

" _You were married to that asshole once?" Anastassia played her role to the perfection._

" _Yes, unfortunately I was." Maria sighed loudly and with exasperation._

" _It was like a bad one-night stand I gather?" The Russian woman added, perniciously._

" _Oh it was even worse than that, my dear." Maria sighed, loudly._

" _You weren't always thinking that way, Ingrid!" Mikael growled, loudly._

" _Who's Ingrid?" Rebekah questioned her own mother._

" _Couldn't say?" Maria shrugged, mostly indifferent; while retaining a laughter from escaping her lips._

" _Katerina, please?" Elijah reintegrated his demand. "Stop this foolish game!"_

_The young female vampire finally jumped away from her lying position on the bunk bed, before approaching the bars._

" _What do you want?" She asked, with a raised chin._

" _I want you safe, because …" The Original closed his eyes, before adding in a low whisper. "Because I love you so much."_

" _Mm… How lovely… You have a strange ways to show it, I would say." She raised her chin in a confrontational gesture._

" _I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe." He added, dryly; his sight drown in hers._

" _Good! And I'll do whatever it will takes to get a divorce from you." She added, perniciously. Revenge was as sweet as she had imagined it to be._

" _You don't mean a word of what you're saying." Elijah shook his head, while suddenly blenching at her imply. "Maria; please talk to her?"_

" _It's your wife, Elijah; why would I put myself in the middle of your relationship?" Maria shrugged, while throwing a few added cards on the table._

" _I guess you can't always win, Elijah." Katerina added, perniciously; while crossing her arms in front of her chest._

" _Rebekah?" Stefan softly called, while approaching the bars, himself. "Please, I want to talk to you?"_

" _I hear this buzzing noise of a fly in my ears." Rebekah shook her head, while unplugging both hears with a finger; under the subtle laugher sounds of Maria, Bonnie and Anastassia._

" _You're better than this childish games, come on?" Stefan growled, unhappy._

" _Did you ever try a fly swatter to get rid of that annoying fly?" Anastassia suggested; while barely retaining her laughter._

" _I'll take that into consideration." Rebekah replied, smiling. "Thank you; Anastassia."_

"You're welcome, Rebekah!" The bombshell Russian replied, politely.

" _Fine! Act childishly; it's such in your nature, anyway!" Stefan replied, furiously; while starting to pace back in forth in front of the cell. "And since when are you two friends, anyway?"_

" _Do something?" Petrov ordered Damon, in a low whisper; while nodding toward his daughter._

" _What? Me? Are you crazy? I'm happy living my eternal life, thank you very much!" Damon responded to the imposing Russian man; before being grabbed by him on his left upper arm. "Hey, hey, hey! You're hurting me!"_

" _Talk!" Petrov ordered in a louder voice._

" _Fine! Geez…" Damon pulled on his jacket; swallowing a lump in his throat before taking a quick glance at the Russian bombshell. "Hey Anastassia!" He called softly, being ignored by the said redhead. "What's new?"_

" _Oh!" Both Ludvig and Mikael rolled their eyes to the ceiling; before striking their eyelids, with loud growls escaping their lips. That young vampire was as useless as you can get!_

" _It's your turn?" Bonnie informed Anastassia, before throwing a few cards on the table._

" _Do you know that one time, I've literally cut a man manhood in two with a single swirl of my knife?" Anastassia commented, casually, while throwing a few cards herself._

" _No?" Both Bonnie and Rebekah exclaimed, mouth opened, playing their parts brilliantly; under the subtitle smirk of Maria._

" _Did the poor man lived to see another day?" Rebekah wondered, out loud._

" _I don't know, it needs to be seen; the asshole is standing behind you, just ask him if you want?" Anastassia shrugged, indifferent._

" _See, Petrov! I call what your daughter is doing, intimidation at its best!" Damon took a few steps back, while pointing toward the Russian's man daughter._

" _Where is she?" Klaus, who had been standing in setback, questioned Katerina._

" _In the right corner of the cell." Katerina nodded toward her sister; who was still reading, while sitting with her upper body leaning on the back wall. "Sister! Your husband is awaiting to have a word or two with you." She shrugged, before returning to her lying position on the bed._

" _You're going to keep playing that game long, Katerina?" Elijah mumbled, angrily; between his teeth._

" _It's not a game, Elijah; I want "out" – Find me a way "out" of my relationship with you and I'll be eternally grateful." She replied, before closing her eyes. Take that in the teeth Elijah Mikaelson!_

" _You will play the same game than your sister?" Klaus asked his wife, while grabbing the cell' bars with both hands._

" _No, Klaus." Carolina shook her head, before dropping the book on her lap; to raise her sight in his. "I won't play a childish game … I'll grant you more respect than what you've granted me to start with." She added, chin raised._

" _I had no other choices, but the one to keep you safe, Love; you perfectly know it." He responded, under clenched teeth. "You must know how much it had cost me to go along with "his" plan." He pointed toward his biological father; Ludvig Petrov. "I was against it from the start … But…" He lowered his head, sighing loudly. "Carolina, I've hurt you enough; I couldn't … I couldn't have lived with myself if something would or had happened to you."_

" _Of course, after all I'm the sweet, breakable,_ _ **very human**_ _wife you've chosen." Carolina commented, tears filling her eyes. "And how many times, up to now, did you broke me, Klaus? Do you recall?" She added, perniciously._

" _Don't…" The hybrid shook his head, wincing. "For once, I've put my own selfishness on the side for your own good, and against my better judgement."_

" _No, Klaus; you've always put your own selfishness ahead of me." Carolina replied, dryly; grabbing the book. "Go! Leave … It's not like I have anything to say in the matter." She added, brushing a tear away from her left cheek._

" _You're proud of yourself, Ingrid?" Ludvig asked, loudly. "You perfectly know that I had the obligation to keep all of them safe, including you! You saw the kind of monster we're about to fight."_

_Maria closed her eyes, pushing the chair to raise on both legs; before turning on herself to advance toward the bars._

" _I'm not debating your mere intention to keep them, including myself; out of danger, Ludvig; I'm debating your barbaric ways to achieve your goal!" Maria replied, dryly; her sight narrowed on him._

" _There was a time; you wouldn't have called me barbaric!" He mumbled, angrily; between his teeth._

" _And yet, here we are!" She responded, chin raised._

" _Pity your new Prince Charming had come to see you in this cell, but, when he saw your childish behavior, he left! Would you call him barbaric or simply a coward?" Petrov commented, slyly; under Maria's blenched expression. "Let's go; we're leaving!" He ordered the men. "As for you all…" He added to the women, before scattering the cell. "You'll stay in here for a couple of days, then my men will bring you to a remote location; where you'll be kept safe."_

* * *

_**Ingrid (Esther/Maria) & Ludvig'  
More than a thousand of years before this day…** _

_**Ingrid walked on the small footpath leading to the river, with Ludvig strolling by her side.** _

" _ **It's hot and humid today; I think a thunderstorm is upon us." The imposing man raised his sight on the menacing set of clouds above their heads.**_

" _ **More reasons to hurry my washing task then." Ingrid replied, while carrying a big basket of dirty laundry in her arms, a smile spreading on her lips.**_

" _ **Let me help you carry this basket for you, Ingrid?" Ludgiv hurried by her side to grab the load.**_

" _ **Oh… It's really not necessary, I can handle carrying it you know?" She smiled shyly; redness filling her cheeks. "But, thank you."**_

" _ **I insist." He replied, returning her smile. "So… Did he left with your sons?"**_

" _ **Yes, Elijah and Finn went hunting with their father for a couple of days." Ingrid replied, amused. "Granted, they won't hunt wild boar or anything of the sort."**_

" _ **I figured that much." Ludvig winked; while making her blush, once more. "I think he finally came to terms with his fear toward my people, or am I presuming wrongly?"**_

" _ **Your friendship helped heal his worries a lot." Ingrid replied, nodding. "He understands your people's ways of living now, and the fact that you're living in peace among other species and humans."**_

" _ **I hope you know that we're transforming and hunting essentially on fool moons; while keeping our distance from your village; Ingrid?" Ludvig tried to reassure her.**_

" _ **I know." Ingrid nodded; while coming to a halt in front of the river. "Sometimes, he does too; and then he forgets to trust again. That's how my husband is." She shrugged. "Thank you." She grabbed the basket from his hands, before lowering it on the ground; only to kneel by the water to start washing the clothes.**_

" _ **Are you happy; Ingrid?" Ludvig asked, unexpectedly.**_

" _ **I don't know what you mean?" Why would you ask such question?" Ingrid, nervously, swallowed a lump in her throat. "Maybe … Maybe you should cross the river and get back to your camp before the storm hit us?" She suggested, to make a diversion; while raising her sight to the dark sky.**_

" _ **I'll take that as a "no"." Ludvig nodded, his sight narrowed on the young woman.**_

" _ **What do you want me to respond to you, Ludvig?" Ingrid passed the back of her right hand on her sweaty forehead. "Of course, I'm happy!" She raised on both legs, before facing the werewolf man. "I have two healthy sons, a husband who's providing for me, with a good roof over my head, and food."  
**_

" _ **What about passion?" Ludvig replied, taking an extra step toward the woman's standing position. "Is he a passionate man toward you?"**_

" _ **What?" Ingrid exclaimed, redness filling both of her cheeks. "You're crossing a line. You can't ask me such question! And though, I'll be eternally grateful that you've saved Finn from drowning, I won't permit you to spread such implies about me and my husband. I love my husband. I always will!"**_

" _ **But… Are you still "in love" with your husband, Ingrid?" Ludvig asked; his sight drown in her blurry eyes.**_

" _ **I …" Ingrid started, turning her back at the tall man while facing the river; arms wrapped around her own chest. "He's your friend now, and … and I'm his wife, do you understand what I'm saying, Ludvig?" She managed to whisper; sinfully.**_

" _ **I do, Ingrid. But, it does little to calm the intense forbidden desire I have for you." Ludvig whispered the admission; his breath caressing her left earlobe, while both of his hands slowly slide around her waist; before abruptly bringing her trembling body in full contact with his muscular chest. "I desire you so much …" He whispered more, his lips leaving a trail of fire down on the soft curve of her neck. "And I know you desire me too." He added, before grabbing Ingrid's chin to turn her head toward his, to finally meet her lips in a passionate kiss.**_

_**She let out a small cry of protestation, in a vain attempt to regain a small part of her dignity; before succumbing to her obvious attraction to this man. He made her turn around and face him, with her lips devouring his with as much passion as he granted her at that moment.** _

_**Both of Ludvig's hands suddenly grab the small ribbon of her cleavage, ripping apart the front panel of her dress, kneeling in front of her; with his lips finding, shortly after, the valley of her breasts, before eagerly sucking on her erected nipples.** _

" _ **Oh…" She let a whisper of pleasure escape her lips, eyes closed, head bend toward the back; with both of her hands buried in his brown strands.**_

" _ **Ingrid…Ingrid…" Her named escape his own lips several times, his hands softly rubbing her lower back and delicious curve of her bottom.**_

" _ **No, no … We can't do this!" She regained her conscious mind, before pushing Ludvig at arm length, only to bring both panels of her dress on her exposed chest. "Stay away from me! This … This never happened!" She warned him with a raised finger toward him.**_

" _ **Ingrid, please… Let me just…" Ludvig rose back on his legs, repentant.**_

" _ **No, stay away from me!" She busted, before grabbing the basket and rushing back toward the village.**_

* * *

" _When?" Anastassia asked Carolina, while pacing back and forth in the cell._

" _Soon… It should be soon; stop asking me that question, would you?" Carolina replied, while nervously rubbing her hands together, her sight fixated on the cell' door._

" _I can't stop asking questions, because I can't grasp the idea that "you", of all women present here, would be the one coming up with a plan to free all of us from this place?" Anastassia confessed._

" _It's not because I'm human that I'm stupid, Anastassia." Caroline mumbled, angrily, between her teeth. "Actually, it's because I don't think too highly of myself that I was able to see the bigger picture in front of my eyes. You, of all people, did not see your own father's manoeuver."_

" _Well, thanks for reminding me of that fact!" Anastassia winced, disdainfully._

" _Will this suppose "ally" of yours, free us from this cell?" Rebekah asked; hopeful._

" _Yes! For the thousands of times, yes!" Carolina nodded. "If being a vampire means becoming annoying as all of you; I want nothing of it!" She sighed, loudly; while closing her eyes to calm herself down._

_A few seconds later the door opened on a very cheerful Vittorio._

" _Ladies! Your Prince Charming has finally arrived!" He exclaimed, theatrically; while throwing a few army bags at their feet._

" _Oh my God! I'm going to kill you!" Anastassia lashed out at her friend; before hitting his chest of her closed fists, only to throw herself in his opened arms after. "Why did you kept this secret from me?" She questioned, before taking a step away._

" _Frankly my dear, I kept this secret to preserve my own skin against the lethal hands of your father." Vittorio replied, while turning his head toward Carolina. "And you; young lady, you've put Vittorio in a compromising situation." He added, crossing both of his arms in front of his muscular chest, with his chin raised in the air._

" _You owed me one, Vittorio; I simply collected sooner than I thought." Carolina replied, before giving him a hug._

" _Perhaps; but Petrov will certainly hang Vittorio's balls to a tree in the middle of the Sahara desert now!" He expressed his worries._

" _If he does that; I'll set his ass on fire." Bonnie promised, with a single wink._

" _Well, that's kind of reassuring." The warlock let a sigh of relief escape his lips. "So, I brought camouflage outfits for all of you; blood bags, food for the lovely Carolina, all kind of weapons, blankets, water, sleeping bags… All the shebang you'll need to reach the mountains."_

" _It's kind of you, Vittorio." Maria thanked him, while grabbing one of the said bags._

" _My lady, you are mostly welcome!" The warlock made a reverence in front of Maria. "I'll need to leave now, to catch up with them; or they'll be suspicious of my whereabouts." The warlock gave final hugs to all of them. "Tada!" He waved his right hand to all of them, before disappearing from their sights._

" _What now?" Bonnie asked, while undressing herself to grab the camouflage clothes in one of the bags._

" _Are we following their walking path, before showing ourselves to them?" Rebekah asked, while pulling the army pants up on her legs. "I can't wait to see their speechless expressions plastered on their faces."_

" _Not yet." Maria announced, unceremoniously; while glancing at Anastassia; who nodded in agreement, in return._

" _What do you mean?" Katerina asked. "We are not porcelain dolls, Maria; the fact that we are women shouldn't be held back against us for fighting the same war as they do?"_

" _I've never said that, my dear." Maria waved a finger in front of Katerina's face. "On the contrary, Anastassia and myself; we'll train all of you into combat."_

" _What?" Bonnie exclaimed, a smile spreading on her face. "This is unreal!"_

" _After all, we've been trained by the same man." Maria added, while addressing a smile to the Russian woman. "Petrov Ludvig trained both of us into combat. It's time for us to show you our skills."_

" _But… Maria; how … I mean, how could you even remember what Petrov told you about combat in the past?" Carolina asked, dumbfounded._

" _You have regained your memory, haven't you?" Katerina exclaimed, in shock; while grabbing both of Maria's hands._

_Maria let a shy smile spread on her lips, while nodding her head in approval of Katerina's say._

" _I have, my sweet child." Maria replied._

" _How… I mean, how do you feel?" Katerina asked, before giving the patriarch lady a hug._

" _I try to not let those memories take the best of me." She replied, calmly._

" _Maria, Please reassure me that this training is including me?" Carolina wondered, closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body. "Please, don't give me the "you are human" speech; or if so, have the decency to turn me as a vampire, if needed?" The young woman added. "I'm the one who saved all your asses for God sake!"_

" _But you are a human, Carolina. And … If we did not think about that fact; we would be stupid bitches about it." Anastassia replied, both hands placed on each side of her waist._

" _Anastassia, lower your voice?" Maria asked, politely; with a hand gesture. "And, my sweet Carolina, you are the master mind of this female team, no one will disagree that mere fact; but…" She added, concerned._

" _But, nothing Maria! I have the right to decide my own destiny!" Carolina pointed a straight finger to her bulged chest._

" _Oh for fucking sake! You're leading yourself to your own death!" Anastassia busted, once more._

" _I have to agree with Anastassia, which is huge for me." Rebekah commented, rolling her eyes. "Carolina; you and Katerina are dear to me, but you're still a human girl, you know?"_

" _You're not improving your speech, young lady." Maria scuffed the Russian woman. "Something that we'll have to include in the training I suppose?" She added, mostly to herself._

" _Be realistic! We can't bring her with us; but we certainly can bring her to a safe place; where she'll be able to not feel like a prisoner." Anastassia tried to make Maria understand her point of view. "For God sake, Katerina, help me make Maria understand my point of view, Carolina is your sister after all."_

_Katerina turned her head toward her younger sister. So much had happened the past few months; and yet … How could she let Carolina go now? Though, it would be the logical step to take to assure her safety._

" _No." The young female vampire shook her head. "She's my sister, and she'll stay with me." She grabbed Carolina's left hand in hers, to reassure the young woman._

" _Thank you." Carolina let a small smile spread on her lips, tears filling her eyes._

" _Anytime, sister." Katerina added, with a single nod._

" _Then, it has been decided." Maria nodded herself in approval. "I was leading to take that same decision myself. When I was trained by your father, I was myself a witch like Bonnie, but still human – Therefore, Carolina can accompany us." Girls, grab your bags and belongings; we have a few weeks of hard training upon ourselves!"_

* * *

_**Two weeks of intense training later …** _

_Anastassia dropped her knife near her army bag, letting the girls rest near the opened camp fire, before rejoining Maria who was standing in setback position of the group. Though, the Russian female vampire had more than one valid reason to hate the mother of her half-brother; with time she had learned to respect her – and even see her as a mother figure._

" _Can I talk to you?" Anastassia murmured near Maria's right ear._

" _Sure, what's on your mind, Anastassia?" Maria turned her head toward the redhead._

" _Carolina is slowing us down. When she is not dizzy, she's vomiting her guts, or she's lying down on her sleeping bag." She presented her argument to the patriarch woman. "Please Maria, don't tell me you haven't notice?"_

" _I did." Maria nodded, while letting a long sigh escape her lips._

" _We can't keep Carolina around, Maria; for her own safety and for ours." Anastassia kept her ground._

" _Unfortunately my dear; it's not our decision to make. If so, that would make us as bad as the men." Maria replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "It Klaus's. He should be the one to bring her into safety."_

" _When we'll catch up with them, will my half-brother have the time to bring his wife to safety? Time is against us, Maria." Anastassia argued._

" _Oh my dear; it's not the "when" that is assuring me that he will, it's the "what" that will push him to do it." Maria turned her head to stare into Anastassia's eyes._

" _I … I don't understand?" The Russian shook her head; dumbfounded._

" _If my estimation is right, you will soon… Very soon." Maria raised her right hand to caress the young female vampire's right cheek, before retracing her steps back to the camp fire._

* * *

" _Please, don't make leave… I feel better, Maria. I must have caught the bug of the flu or something; that explains why I've been so sick lately." Carolina tried to argue her case._

" _Oh my sweet child; what a gift from heaven that my son Nicklaus has met you in those strange circumstances of a foreign-arranged marriage." Maria grabbed Carolina's chin, in a motherly way._

" _Please, I'll catch up with the training." Carolina grabbed both of Maria's wrists in hope of making her reconsider._

" _Can I?" Maria politely asked her step-daughter to raise her tunic above her belly button._

" _Why?" Carolina whispered, with a shivering voice._

" _Please?" Maria reintegrated her demand; before slowly raising the fabric on the small apparent bump._

" _I don't know … I don't understand what is going on?" Carolina stammered through her explanation. "Maybe, it's some kind of a tumor?" She added, tears filling her eyes._

" _Oh sweet child; it's nothing of the sort, you're pregnant." Maria announced, unceremoniously._

" _It's impossible." Carolina shook her head._

" _I won't judge. I won't think less of you. If, you've been with another man than my son." Maria grabbed both of Carolina's hands, before bringing them near to her heart. "I've been in your position, I can understand that life is never all white or black, and sometimes; we stand in the grey."_

" _Wait? What? No!" Carolina exclaimed in shock. "I've been intimate with one man only, and it's your son Klaus!"_

" _How is this even possible?" Maria frowned, in questioning._

" _What… What is happening to me, Maria? I can't… I can't be pregnant, can I?" Carolina stammered, nervously._

" _I … I don't know, sweet child; I don't know." Maria whispered, softly; while pulling Carolina into the comfort of her arms. "But, I'll get to the bottom of this."_

* * *

_**More than a thousand years before this day …** _

_**It was a full moon and since the arrival of Ludvig's people, the village had been set under a strict curfew in the early hours of the evening. Ingrid took a quick look outside, while sliding the wood panel placed in front of the small window, in their hut. Her husband was still miles away with both of her boys, in a hunting trip. It had took a lot of arguments from Ingrid's part, for him to agree to leave on that trip; while knowing that a full moon was upon them. But, since the arrival of Ludvig's group of werewolves, a few months ago, not a single accident had occurred in the village. The man had kept his promise to keep them all safe, in harmony and peace.** _

_**Granted their encounter near the river, a few days ago; had shaken the young witch, deep down in her core. She was attracted to Ludvig; more than words could describe; but she was also still very much in love with her husband.** _

_**Ingrid grabbed a bucket, before pushing the wood panel to grant her the chance to step outside. She had completely forgotten to fill their water reserve and now she had no other choices but to walk, under the full moon, near the river; to fill her bucket of water.** _

_**She hurried her walk down the foot path, raising the long skirt above her calves to help her steps. It's at that particular moment that she heard the loud growls of the animal.** _

_**She froze, dropping the bucket at her feet, while slowly meeting the intense and luminous glance of the magnificent supernatural creature. Her actions had been stupid to leave the comfort of her hut, to wander around on a full moon.** _

" _ **Oh my God! Please… Grant me the courage." She whispered to herself; signing a cross in front of her chest.**_

_**The werewolf growled some more, howling to the moon; before slowly approaching her standing position. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see when the animal would attack her. She was surprised to feel the tip of its snout touching her left hand, before slowly licking its back.** _

" _ **Oh…" She exclaimed, in shock, while opening her eyes, before letting herself fall in a kneeling position on the grass, losing all strength in her legs.**_

_**The werewolf lay down by her side, its yellowish eyes drown in hers.** _

" _ **Ludvig?" She questioned, almost certain that this imposing animal was actually his supernatural version.**_

_**As simple response, the animal lowered his head on her lap; to which she softly caressed its head, before a few minutes later seeing him regain his human appearance.** _

" _ **I'm so sorry, Ingrid; Please forgive me, I can't lose your friendship?" Ludvig begged her indulgence.**_

" _ **There's nothing to forgive." She shook her head, tears rolling on her cheeks; her fingers softly caressing his tick and soft hair.**_

_**Ludvig raised his head and sight in hers; before straightening his laying position into a sitting one.** _

_**Ingrid felt a burning fire reaching her cheeks; if his werewolf appearance was magnificent; his naked human one was not less attractive.** _

" _ **I need to train you… I need to train you into combat… To show you how to protect yourself." He suggested, while raising his right hand to caress her cheeks, his right thumb sliding on her parted lips.**_

" _ **Ok." She nodded, not understanding his speech' incoherencies of the moment.**_

" _ **You're beautiful… So, beautiful…" He whispered more; while mouthing the words in top of her mouth.**_

" _ **So are you." She responded; before feeling his lips crashing on hers.**_

_**He laid her down on the grass, his own naked body rolling in top of her own; while both of his hands were slowly caressing the soft curves of her hips; their mutual lips never partying.** _

_**He finally raised the witch in his arms, in one prompt lifting of her body by his muscular arms.** _

" _ **Ludvig, what … What are you doing?" Ingrid stammered, nervously; while wrapping both arms around his neck to keep her equilibrum.**_

" _ **Tonight woman you're mine! I don't care about your husband, the moon, the world … I'll find peace only when I'll find myself buried deep inside of you." He announced, unceremoniously, before walking down the path leading to his own village, and abode.**_

* * *

_**The men…** _

" _We're approaching the mountains now." Ludvig held his pace to turn on himself to face the convoy. "We'll set the camp here." He nodded, while ordering Alexay to proceed._

" _As you wish." Alexay nodded, in respect; before signing the others to hold their pace to set the camp._

" _Remind me of never, never, EVER go camping with uncle Petrov in a near future." Kol growled, unhappy; while lowering his backpack on the ground._

" _Do you hear the whining of your son, Mikael? He's pasting against me." Petrov let a small laugh escape his lips._

" _Oh this isn't pasting or being mad, yet, Petrov; just give me some time, and I'll reach that point." Kol replied, unhappy._

" _Oh come on, Kol… Where's your feisty side of adventure?" Mikael replied, amused._

" _Maybe it's the scruff on all of our faces, including his own, that is displeasing him?" Petrov shrugged, teasing._

" _Actually; I wouldn't say "no" to a warm shower, and a clean bed!" Kol exclaimed, while scattering their present creek whereabouts._

" _Are your done grumbling like a woman?" Stefan rolled his eyes to the night sky; before throwing his own bag to the ground. "Even Rebekah would find in herself to be less of a girl than yourself!"_

" _Less than a girl? Anastassia wouldn't grumbled as much as him!" Damon commented, himself; while setting a death silence in the group. "Sorry, didn't mean to mention her or them, as a matter of fact."_

" _No… It's me who mentioned Rebekah the first." Stefan waved his right hand as a forgiven gesture._

" _They are a big part of our life." Elijah responded, toneless, before dropping his backpack, his right hand sliding on the beard covering his chin and jaw. "We did what we thought was necessary to keep them all safe."_

" _And the fact that my own wife, mother and sisters are resenting us for being huge assholes and pigs are graciously offered by my biological father, Ludvig Petrov, here present!" Klaus lashed out, pointing toward his father, before throwing his bag on the ground; his right foot kicking its side a second later._

" _I see." Ludvig nodded, a tensed nerve playing in the inside of his left cheek. "If you prefer to throw the ball in my side of the camp to release your anger and feel more like a man, you certainly can, Nicklaus."_

" _Don't give me this crap of yours, Ludvig!" Klaus busted, advancing toward his biological father's standing position; closed fists placed on each side of his waist._

" _Klaus! Get a grip on yourself!" Elijah intercepted his brother, while holding his momentum._

" _What Elijah? Don't tell me it's not eating you alive the kind of betrayal you've done to Katerina?" Klaus shouted to his brother._

" _It is! More than you could even start to imagine. She wants to divorce me, Klaus, what do you think?" Elijah replied, sadness filling his eyes and voice; with his right hand placed on his brother's chest. "But, we, all, have agreed to this; we can't throw the blame essentially on "him"." He added, with a rapid glance toward Petrov._

" _Your son is a wise man, Mikael." Ludvig came to the conclusion._

" _And yours is a proud one, we're kind of even." Mikael replied, courteous; while slapping Petrov's higher back in a friendly way._

" _Good evening, gentlemen!" A loud greeting cut the silence; while making them startle and raise their heads on top of the small creek to stare at the group of women in front of their sights._

" _What the …?" Kol exclaimed; speechless. "Bonnie?" He mouthed the name, his sight drown in hers._

" _Fuck! … Ingrid!" Ludvig finished Kol's sentence, while raising his sight toward his past lover and daughter. They were all standing in heads to tails, while holding weapons in their hands. "Vittorio!" He shouted, angrily._

" _Yes, master?" The said warlock appeared, while standing behind Kol to protect himself. "You called me?"_

" _What is this mockery?" The imposing Russian man pointed toward the group of women. "It could only be you who freed them?"_

" _Actually, it wasn't my idea." Vittorio swallowed a lump in his throat, while holding Kol for his dear life._

" _Would you… just… step back!" Kol squirmed to free Vittorio's grip on him._

" _Oh come on, Ludvig; aren't you happy to see us? You're not going to say "hi"?" Maria jumped from rock to rock to join their camp' position, with the other women closed on her heels. "And let this poor Vittorio go and alone, would you? It's not his fault if he was able to recognized brilliant minds in the ones of women? Right?"_

" _You have always acted against my own wishes, good sense and logic, why am I even surprised to see this is not different than your past actions, Esther?" Mikael growled, himself; while pacing back and forth, unhappy by this sudden turn of event._

" _What is this …?" Alexay reached the spectacle, short in words; while dropping the pieces of woods he was carrying, only to stand in total shock._

" _Don't even mention it; Alexay." Petrov knocked the tip of his army boot on a rock._

" _What good this is going to bring at the end, Esther?" Mikael placed himself at a near inch of his past wife. "You're placing all of them in danger! You're placing your own daughters in danger for God sake!"_

" _It's Maria now, Mikael. But, you weren't never the type to see the all picture, weren't you?" She titled her head, teasing. "You see, Ludvig trained me into combat in the past. Remember the time you went hunting with the boys? Well, it was the same time that Klaus was conceived actually."_

" _I don't want to hear about the past!" The patriarch Original responded, under clenched teeth._

" _Of course, you've always buried your head in the sand, haven't you?" Ingrid responded, dryly. "Not even realizing that you weren't bringing joy to our home anymore, or passion into my heart."_

" _Is there a fucking point to all of this?" Ludvig exclaimed, unhappy. "And you!" He pointed toward his daughter Anastassia._

" _Yes; what is it daddy? You will punish me? Forbidding me ice cream for a week?" Anastassia approached her father's position, before raising her right hand to softly slap his left cheek. "You want to bet that I could punish you too?" She pointed the tip of her dagger underneath his throat. "And you?" She turned on herself to face Damon._

" _Oh dear God!" Damon exclaimed, while backing away and swallowing a lump in his throat. "Now, now, Anastassia… Be nice!" He suggested, both hands raised to stop her momentum. "Nothing that a good whipping session wouldn't cure? Agree?" He added, his back hitting a tree._

" _Eww…" Stefan shook his head at the simple idea, while wincing. "Please, Damon… Just stop the visual, would you?"_

" _I'll crush your balls until they become sands in my hands!" She warned him, angrily; while lowering her upper body on his. "And then; I'll cut another part of your anatomy, slowly … Very slowly…To take my revenge." She pointed the tip of the dagger over his crotch area._

" _Duly noted." Damon nodded, eyes closed._

" _Now, now … Darling!" Kol raised both hands in front of the witch who was slowly walking in his direction, her sight narrowed on her victim. "I'm sure we can discuss this little disagreement, like adults, right?"_

" _Mm… I don't think so, honey bunch!" Bonnie raised the sword in her hands, while slowly sliding the tip of her fingers on the sharp blade. "You see…I'm kind of debating two options, Kol."_

" _Maybe we could discuss about them, sweetie pie?" He suggested, drops of sweat rolling on his temple. "See… Maybe, we could come to a really good agreement?" He added, before losing his equilibrium and finding himself into a sitting position on the ground._

" _Are you nervous, Kol?" Bonnie wondered, with raised eyebrows; while unexpectedly plunging the sword between his legs, at a near centimeter of his crotch area. "Oh? Did it hurt? I'm so sorry… You see, I've learned a thing or two with the help of Anastassia and Maria. I don't even need my magic to this point." She shrugged, smiling._

" _Please, don't hurt me; it wasn't my idea, Bonnie?" Kol begged, his sight drown in hers._

" _Mm… I'm still debating to this point what your punishment should be." She announced, unceremoniously._

" _Oh for God sake, can we stop this all theatrical staging?" Petrov exclaimed, angrily._

" _Why? Afraid of the girls, Ludvig?" Maria wondered out loud, a smile spreading on her lips._

" _My father underestimated us, obviously." Anastassia retraced her steps toward the Russian man' standing position; under the sight of relief of Damon._

" _Ok, fine! And so you know, I've never underestimated any of you, daughter!" He growled, loudly. "I wanted for all of you to be safe, big difference!"_

" _Still, the astonishment on your face was priceless!" Rebekah stepped forward, her sight narrowed on Stefan. "Something to say for yourself?"_

" _I won't deny my own behavior or decision in this matter." Stefan shook his head, while keeping his sight locked with the blonde's._

" _You've always been truthful and honest, Stefan; I can't say otherwise." Rebekah nodded, in respect._

" _I've asked your brother Elijah for your hand in marriage, Rebekah." The young vampire announced, ceremoniously. "I'm still waiting for his reply, but … My decision to follow Petrov's wish, came into the fact that I couldn't lose my future wife."_

" _And yet it would be ok for me to lose you; while you will combat this monster? Or did I misunderstood?" Rebekah raised her chin, in a confrontational gesture._

_Stefan blenched under her imply, lowering his head and nervously rubbing his hands together._

" _Fair enough." He finally commented._

" _Under your decision and my own feelings in the matter, I can tell you that under no circumstance will I "ever" accept to marry you." Rebekah added, toneless._

" _You don't mean it." Stefan narrowed his eyes on the blonde vampire._

" _When did I ever not meant what I was saying to you?" Rebekah arched an eyebrow, before turning on her heels to retrace her steps near Maria's standing position._

" _Rebekah, please… Just take time…" Elijah tried to appease the tension._

" _No, you have lost the right to even put your nose in my personal affair; Elijah." She waved a finger at his own say. "Stay out of it; and while you are at it; stay out of my life as well."_

_The Original nodded, nervously passing a nervous hand through his tangled dark hair._

" _Where's my wife, mother?" The eldest of the Originals asked, while trying to keep his calm._

" _I wasn't sure you still care about Katerina, Elijah?" Maria responded, while turning her sight toward her son._

" _Of course I care, she is my wife; damn it!" He replied, hitting his bulged chest with a closed fist._

" _A wife you couldn't have care less when you drugged her and imprisoned her behind bars." He heard a distinct recognizable voice behind his back. He turned on himself to face the gorgeous brunette, but he couldn't have predicted the turn of event. His left arm was twisted in his back; a strong kick hit his right calve, while his throat was imprisoned with an strong arm; before he could feel himself projected on the ground a knife placed under his Adam's apple; while his wife straddle him like she would a horse! "Now, this is more like it, Elijah; would you say?" Katerina questioned, a devious smile spreading on her lips; under the busts of laughter of all women._

" _I see…You certainly know your way around now." Elijah managed to articulate, his sight buried in his wife's. God she was more beautiful and even sexier now! "You wanted to make a point, Katerina? The one that you like to be on top? That's one that I already knew about you." He added, with much perversity. "And why would you even care? Aren't you divorcing me, after all?" He questioned, realizing how she had lure him into believing a false imply; while also creating a small laughter among the men as well._

_She startled at his say, redness filling her cheeks._

" _Yes, I wanted to make a point, Elijah. The one that you are a jerk who deserved a lesson!" She busted to his face; before releasing her grip on him and raising back on her legs. The heat of his body, so near from her own, had unbalanced Katerina's plan to take a revenge on her husband._

" _Duly noted, wife!" He replied, raising on his legs himself; a huge grin appearing on his lips._

" _Can we agree now, Ludvig, that we are part of your team; or do you need more demonstrations?" Maria questioned the Russian leader; with an arched eyebrow._

" _Fine! It's not like I have any other choices in the matter." He growled, unhappy._

_They all turned their heads toward the new arrival, Maria finally facing George, who slowly lowered several wood logs on the ground._

" _Maria." He nodded, respectfully; while greeting her, toneless._

" _George." She replied, while swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _You look well." He added, seriously; without showing an ounce of emotions._

" _So do you." She commented. "As you can see, I've … Or should I say, we've managed to escape."_

" _I've never doubted that you would." George sighed, loudly. "You're a strong woman, Maria; it something that I've always knew about you. Now if you would excuse me." He added, before turning on his heels to retrace his steps toward the forest._

" _I bet you never saw that one coming at you, Maria? George's indifference toward you?" Mikael commented, perniciously._

" _Where's Klaus?" Maria asked, while trying to hold herself together over her encounter with George._

_They all scattered the premises without seeing a sign of the hybrid._

" _I guess my son is searching for his wife." Ludvig replied, as logical explanation._

* * *

" _Klaus? Please wait, you don't even know where she is." Maria shouted, while closing the space between them._

" _Where is Carolina? Is she ok?" Klaus followed his mother through a path of small rocks._

" _She's fine. Just a bit tired." Maria replied, while leading the way. "You know it's actually Carolina who came up with this all evasion idea and plan." She turned her head to wink at her son. "She's very intelligent, this wife of yours."_

" _Why I am not surprised." The hybrid let a grin spread on his manly lips. "She's a small ball of fire, powerful and fearless; Maria. Perfect in every way."_

" _It's not a surprise to me, either; that she was able to tame you, my son." Maria added, teasingly._

" _She didn't tame me!" Klaus replied, defensively; being hit hard in his male pride._

" _She didn't? Really? I could swear differently." Maria grinned._

" _Ok, maybe she did a little bit." He whispered, redness reaching both of his cheeks._

" _I tame you a lot, Nicklaus Mikaelson!" They both heard the shouting, before raising their heads at the blonde apparition standing on a large nearby rock. "You're just too much of a coward to admit it."_

" _Carolina…" Her name escaped his lips, in a desperate call; before he could rush toward her._

" _Don't even take another step in my direction!" She shouted, a straight finger pointed toward him. "You need to explain yourself."_

" _I was against all of it, I swear to you. Please, believe me, Love?" He shook his head, admitting the truth._

" _Maria?" Carolina questioned the Patriarch woman._

" _I believe him." She confirmed, with a single nod, hands crossed over her chest; while standing in setback. "He knew he would be crossing a thin line with you."_

" _Tell me more?" Carolina asked, arms crossed over her chest, chin raised in a confrontational gesture._

" _I was completely against it. I … I betrayed you too oftentimes in the past; and … I would have preferred to know that you were nearby me, than far away." Klaus admitted, repentant._

" _But?" Carolina asked, with a raised eyebrow._

" _But… You're human Carolina; and … I couldn't forgive myself if something had happened to you. You're my life, Love." Klaus gave his heart to her._

" _Maria?" Carolina called, once more; tears filling her eyes._

" _Oh… He's a sweet talker like his father." Maria concluded, with a smile reaching her lips and eyes. "But, he seems sincere."_

" _Now, can I hold you…Can I kiss you?" Klaus begged his wife. "Because I don't think I could held myself much longer."_

" _Not quite yet, my son." Maria raised on her legs, rapidly glancing at Carolina's standing position; who, herself, swallowed a lump in her throat._

" _What is it?" Klaus frowned, concerned. "What are you both hiding from me?"_

" _You've been the only one for me, Klaus … Please, believe me … When I'm saying this to you?" Carolina begged, while nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _What… What do you mean, Love? Of course, I've been the only one!" Klaus raised both eyebrows, in questioning. "Mother?" He turned his head toward Maria's standing position, drowning his sight in hers to find the truth in her eyes._

" _Carolina…" Maria closed her eyes for a few second, to give herself strength. "Carolina is pregnant, Nicklaus." She finally confessed, over the speechless expression of her son._


	31. In troubled water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This present chapter is essentially dedicated to the two main pairings of this story, Klaroline and Kalijah; enjoy guys!

" _You should get comfortable." Klaus suggested, toneless; before throwing both of the sleeping bags on the ground of the small cavern, located at the base of the mountain. "I guess, we'll pass the night here, in setback position of the main camp, if only to please my mother." He added, wincing._

_Carolina nodded while swallowing a lump in her throat, her back and opened palms pressed on the stones wall._

" _Why are you glued to the stones wall?" He questioned, with a raised eyebrow. "Are you still seeing me as this heartless beast that could raise a hand on you, Carolina?" Klaus snapped the harsh words out of his mouth and to his wife._

" _At the present moment I'm seeing a man who had just chosen to not believe the truthfulness and faithfulness of his wife!" Carolina replied, dryly; with her chin raised in a confrontational gesture. "If it was not for the presence of Maria; you would … Truthfully, I don't even know what you would have done?"_

_Klaus turned his fiery sight toward the young woman, a loud and terrifying growl escaping his throat._

" _I wouldn't have raised a hand on you, Carolina; I would prefer to cut that said hand, before acting in such a despicable way!" Klaus yelled back. "Especially with your present condition." He nodded, with a rapid glance at her prominent belly._

" _You've managed to scare me." She crossed her arms in front of her chest; in an attempt to lower the tremors that were hitting her body all at once. "I trust you; but not … But not when you lose your calm this way."_

" _It wasn't intentional." Klaus shook his head. "I'm a hybrid, Carolina, a mix of vampire and werewolf; I can't procreate, simply for the mere fact that in the human world, I'm technically dead." He started pacing back and forth in the small abode. "What was I supposed to think at first? I … I thought you had … I mean…Wasn't it obvious that you could have been unfaithful to me? Especially after all you had to endure? Could you put yourself in my shoes for a second?"_

" _You thought that I had an affair with a man, like your mother did so many centuries ago with Petrov, did you?" She busted the truth to his face._

" _Can you, in all honesty, blame me?" Klaus snapped back, furiously; pointing a finger toward his chest._

" _No, I can't blame you." Carolina agreed to his say; shamelessly lowering her head. "But … For the hundreds of times; you're the only man that I've shared intimacy with, Klaus." She repeated, tears filling her eyes; her head now raised to drown her sight in his. "This ... This child I'm carrying is yours." She confessed, humbly; her hands sliding on the roundness of her belly._

" _If Petrov is responsible for this, like I'm presuming that he is; I swear I'll find a way to kill him with my bare hands!" Klaus mumbled, angrily, between his clenched teeth. "He had no right to use witchcraft to fulfill his own devil plan to build a new species of hybrids!"_

" _The aspect of having your wife carrying your child is so disgusting to you, that fulfilling your revenge on your father seems more important than actually acknowledging the fact that you'll be a father soon?" Carolina winced at his imply. "Is it because there would be a part of me in this child, Klaus, a very human part; is that what bothering you so much?"_

" _What? Why would you even think or say something like that to me?" Klaus grabbed his head with both hands._

" _Up to now, there's nothing that I wanted to offer you that you've wanted in return!" Carolina exploded, while pointing a forbidden finger toward his standing position. "I've wanted to turn as a vampire for you, and you've refused numerous times; then … Now that I'm carrying your child, by this twisted faith … I'm still not good enough!" She added, tears rolling fluently on her cheeks._

" _No, no, no Love …" Klaus shook his head, denying repeatedly; before taking a few unsteady steps to slowly advance toward his wife's standing position. "I'm … I don't know how to explain it…" He stammered, incoherently._

" _If you don't know, then let me be… Please!" Caroline sobbed through her sentence, while taking a hold on him, both hands wrapped around his wrists._

" _Carolina… Oh, Carolina…" He whispered, tenderly, with his eyes closed; before cupping her face with both hands, his forehead leaning on hers. "What are you doing to me?"_

* * *

_**A few hours prior …** _

" _What did you just say, Maria?" Klaus narrowed his sight on his mother, a dumbfounded expression plastered on his face._

" _Your …" Maria closed her eyes to find the courage to repeat her say, one more time, to her son. "Your wife is pregnant. She's expecting your child."_

_The hybrid stood immobile and speechless for a few seconds, his sight raised to the sky; both hands placed on each side of his waist._

" _Who's the father of this child, Carolina?" He asked, toneless. "Who's the man who've managed to share your bed?"_

" _What? What do you mean who's the father of this child?" Carolina repeated, in shock. "Maria?" The young woman turned her sight toward her mother-in-law, in a begging gesture to receive her help._

" _It's yours, Nicklaus." Maria nodded, truthful. "I don't know how it's even possible, but the child Carolina is carrying is your son or daughter."_

" _Is this a joke, Maria?" The hybrid cocked his head to the back, before bursting into a cynical laughter. "What? You've managed to convince my wife to accept to play this sick theatrical play to take your revenge on me, mother? Because, you couldn't obviously take your revenge on Petrov? So you have to repay me with your anger, because your past lover locked you in a cell?"_

" _Klaus! Stop it!" Carolina shouted, a hand placed over her belly. "How can you even be so cruel to your own mother?"_

" _It's ok, Carolina; don't upset yourself in your present condition." Maria waved a hand in her direction, a shy smile spreading on her lips. "It's hard for my son to digest the news."_

" _Digest the news? Are you for real, mother?" Klaus lashed out, angrily; before rushing toward Carolina's standing position, his head bent at a near inch of hers, while his right hand forcefully grabbed one of her wrist. "Who was it? Did he managed to make you come as strongly as me? Did you scream his name from the top of your lungs while making love to him?"_

" _Fuck you, Klaus!" Carolina spat to the hybrid's face; squirming to free herself from his grip. "You've heartless!"_

" _Nicklaus! Lower your temper this is an order!" Maria yelled to her son._

_He kept his position while maintaining his grip on his wife's wrist for a few additional seconds, both kept inside an intense exchange of power. He finally pushed himself at arm length, only to pace back and forth on the rocky path._

" _Are you ok, my sweet child?" Maria reached Carolina, before giving her a needed hug._

" _I'm fine, just a little disturbed." Carolina nodded, with a shy smile to reassure the Patriarch woman._

" _You should be ashamed of yourself, Nicklaus!" Maria busted, nastily. "Since when do you raise your hand on a pregnant woman?"_

" _I did not raise my hand on my wife, Maria; I simply grabbed her wrist, and by doing so, I've tried to find the truth in her eyes." Klaus replied, dryly; with a pointed finger toward Carolina._

" _And what did you see, Klaus? Mm? Was it my betrayal? My truthfulness in my say? My wrongs? Or what is my unconditional love for you?" Carolina lashed out, detaching herself from Maria's comforting arms, while taking a few steps in his direction. "What was it?" She yelled, angrily; her sight locked in his. "Don't be a coward, spit it out to my face, Mikaelson!"_

" _It's impossible…" He growled, under clenched teeth; while lowering his sight from hers. "You can't carry my child, it is as simple as that, Carolina – The probabilities of that happening one day are none existent."_

" _Then to whom the child I am carrying belongs to?" Carolina replied, with a single shrug. "Because, my husband is the only man with whom I've shared a physical connection."_

_As the night started to surround them of its dark penumbra, Klaus finally turned his sight back toward his wife._

" _How?" He finally decided to let the improbable possibility of his wife carrying his child, become a reality._

" _I suspect your biological father had something to do with the fact that Carolina was able to become pregnant with your child." Maria started to explain her own theory. "Just think about it, Klaus; your father wanted more than anything to start his own army of hybrids, what better way but to find a loophole that would allow him to repopulate the planet with the human female species?" She added, with a hand gesture, before holding her say for a few seconds. "You're too quiet, say something for God sake?"_

" _Well, mother; pardon me for taking the time to let this crazy theory sink into my skull and brain!" Klaus snapped back, while pointing two fingers toward his temples. "Not only, if this could even be remotely true; Petrov acted without mine and Carolina's consent, and he probably put the health of my wife on the line with his sick, perverse plan!" He added, angrily; before turning on himself to retrace his steps toward the camp. "Look at her! It looks like she's six months pregnant in the time space of a few weeks?"_

" _I know…" Maria agreed to her son's say. "But, except for the rushing steps of her pregnancy, Carolina seems in good health."_

" _Can you swear on your life that she is?" Klaus asked, dryly. "No? Then, let me take care of Petrov, and mind your own business, mother!"_

" _Don't act irrationally and under your anger, Nicklaus!" Maria grabbed her son's left forearm to retain him on his momentum. "At least, take the night to cool off. Look what your tantrum brought you earlier? Nothing! Except bringing pain to your wife." She added, while nodding toward Carolina. "Carolina is scare, alone and she's shivering of cold because the night just fell on us. You should finally become a man and think of her and your unborn child, like a husband should, and stop acting on your bad impulses. Tomorrow will come soon enough for you to unravel this mystery." She concluded, before releasing her grip on her son. "I'll go back to the camp; I'll see you both tomorrow morning for breakfast, sleep well my sweet child." She added, while addressing a smile to her daughter-in-law. "Behave!" She finally pointed a finger underneath Klaus's nose, before disappearing into the night._

* * *

_**Back at the cavern…** _

" _How could you even think for a second that I would betray you by sleeping with another man?" Carolina questioned, the whisper escaping her trembling lips; while her tears ran from her cheeks down her neck. "Don't you know by now, how I can live without you? Or are you just being an asshole?"_

" _I'm not even resenting the "asshole" part, I've brought havoc into your life, Carolina; I perfectly know that I deserve that title." Klaus let a loud sight escaping his lips, before backing away from their embrace. "Did you even, for one second, make the count of all the sufferance you had to endure since the moment you have laid your eyes on me, and accepted to marry me?" He questioned, dryly. "Even my own biological father has managed to put you in this precarious pregnancy; in which we have no idea if all of this could make your life in danger or not?"_

" _I prefer to make the count of all the blessings that have entered my life and heart, since I have fallen deeply in love with you, Nicklaus Mikaelson." She replied; bringing her hands back on her belly. "I prefer to believe that your father was not stupid enough to put in danger my life or the one of the baby."_

" _Oh yes; I'm so great! Let make the list, shall we?" He let a cynical laughter escape the thin line of his lips. "Well, there was the arranged marriage to start with…"_

" _I fell for you the moment our eyes met on the laptop screen." Carolina confessed, truthfully._

" _Oh don't even go there, Carolina! You couldn't even stand me back then!" Klaus pointed a forbidden finger in her direction._

" _Oh that is precious! You think that the virgin that I was, back then, would have undressed herself for any men in front of a webcam?" She replied, both closed fists placed on each side of her hips. "I was drown to you, and … And at that time, I couldn't even explain the reasons to myself."_

_The hybrid took a rapid glance in his wife's direction, before dismissing her say with a hand gesture._

" _Then there was our wedding night disaster!" Klaus exclaimed, a nerve twitching inside his left cheek._

" _Don't even have the audacity to go there!" Carolina cried, her chest raising up and down under her heavy breathing. "I've forgiven you hundreds of times already, we've passed that bump on the road already!"_

" _Why? Because it was yet another great moments between us, Carolina?" He busted, angrily; while hitting his muscular chest with his closed right fists. "Was it so enjoyable for you that I've …" He continued to lash out, before being cut on his angry momentum._

_She promptly closed the space between them; both hands cupping his hairy face, her lips crashing on his a second later, under his loud growl of surprise._

" _Stop talking, start feeling…Please?" She begged while mouthing the words, her eyes drown in his._

" _This will not help!" Klaus replied, before grabbing both of her wrists to push himself at a distance, once more._

" _Why are you doing this, Klaus? I need you … We need you!" Carolina grabbed his right hand to bring it over the curve of her belly. "He or she is kicking right now."_

_Klaus froze all his movements, his fiery sight narrowed on Carolina's belly; parted lips letting escape a long sigh, while his shoulders suddenly relax under the previous heavy tension, a lump being swallowed in his dry throat._

" _Can you feel it?" Carolina questioned, a tear rolling down her left cheek. "The baby is not happy because his daddy and mummy are fighting like cats and dogs."_

" _Yes, I can feel the kicks." He nodded his head, gently rubbing her belly in slow movements. "I can hardly believe it."_

" _Isn't it wonderful?" She exclaimed, while wiping her tear away with the back of her right hand. "It's our child, Klaus… Ours!"_

_And then … The hybrid fell… He fell on his knees, his back and head curved in a plea gesture for forgiveness; while his arms wrapped around her rounded silhouette, with his left cheek slowly resting on her belly; tears rolling down his face._

" _Klaus?" Carolina whispered her husband's name, not able to move for a few second; left under his unexpected reaction. She finally let herself fell into a kneeling position, by his side, on the cavern ground; slowly raising Klaus's head while lifting his chin up, her fingers sliding in his golden curls. "What is it, talk to me?"_

" _I don't deserve you, I don't deserve "this", Love." He replied, shaking his head, with his sight drown in hers and both hands placed on each side of her belly._

" _You deserve this and so much more, Klaus. If only you could believe in yourself, in "us", and in our future child?" She nodded, a shy smile spreading on her lips. "I love you; and our child will love you even more than I could."_

" _How are you … I mean, do you have any side effects?" Klaus wondered, nervously; while raising his right hand to push a loose strand of her blond hair behind her left ear. "I'm so worried about you; I … I know that I'm showing it the wrong way."_

" _I'm ok, I guess?" Carolina shrugged. "The pregnancy seems to be speedier than a normal human one, but other than my heavy breasts and back pain; I'm not complaining."_

" _I've, somehow, noticed." Klaus let a smirk lift the right side of his manly lips._

" _What?" Carolina questioned, with a raised eyebrow._

" _Your breasts." He winked, playfully. "It's more than obvious for me to notice."_

" _Jerk!" She exclaimed, hitting a closed fists on his chest. "Fuller breasts is the only thing that would get your attention, Mikaelson?!"_

" _Well, I'm a man after all, Love – I see, what I see." He replied, playfully; pulling her toward his chest. "I'm sorry, I can't … I mean, we can't … I mean the baby…" He stammered, redness filling his cheeks._

" _I want this, I want to share intimacy with you; and there's no way you could hurt me or the baby." Carolina shook her head, in a reassurance gesture._

_They locked sights for a few seconds, then, she promptly undressed herself of her army vest, before her fingers could opened the buttons of her shirt, one by one, her sight still locked with his; while partying both sides to reveal her fuller breasts and round belly; her bra being thrown on the ground a second later. "I know I've lost my figure… but…" She blushed herself, before unexpectedly letting a muffled cry escape her parted lips. Klaus had leaned toward her, both hands cupping each breast, his lips biting one of her erected nipple, while his finger pinched the neglected one. "Klaus!" She cried, both hands softly caressing the long golden locks at the base of his neck._

" _I won't endangered you or the child… But, I'll give you pleasure; Love." He whispered, while slowly lowering her into a lying position on the ground, over a sleeping bag; softly kissing her belly, his right hand reaching the button of her khaki pants. "You deserve all the pleasure in the world, Carolina; and that's something that I can give to you."_

* * *

_Katerina entered the cold water of the river that she had been lucky to found the spot while scattering the camp area. Luckily for her, once more, the bright glow of the moon lighted the bank. She closed her eyes, clenching her teeth together; it was ice cold. As a vampire, she could have easily blocked the intense shivering if she had wanted to not feel it, but strangely enough; she wanted to feel the goosebumps on her entire body, she wanted to feel human if only for the short time of a bath._

_Maria had come back to the camp and had informed her that her sister, Carolina, was safe, and would pass the night with her husband. It had lifted a heavy weight off her shoulders. Especially, after Maria had announced to the group of women, that her sister was pregnant – Which at first announcement, had seemed completely unlikely and impossible that Klaus would be the father; but it seemed that he was._

_She plunged underneath the water, performing a swim from one bank to the other; before emerging from the river, her head bend toward the back, with her fingers sliding through her long curly brown hair, before suddenly immobilizing all her movements, all her senses in alert; with the distinct impression to be watched._

_She turned on herself, facing the row of trees, her chest exposed from her waist up to the fiery sight of her husband._

" _You perfectly know how dangerous it could be for you to expose yourself like this, Katerina?" Elijah growled, unhappy._

" _We're divorcing, remember? It's not like my welfare should be any concern of yours." She replied, tit for tat; with a raised chin and a single shrug._

" _Oh…" Elijah shook his head, before letting a loud laughter escaping his lips. "Really, Katerina; I think you can put to rest the brilliant performance you did back at the underground cells. "You're my wife, you took vows linking your life to mine forever; and I'm not about to let you forget!"_

" _Don't you mean: you've paid a high price for my services, and you want to enjoy me for the money you have invested?" The brunette vampire replied, perniciously._

" _I thought we had agreed to never bring that subject on the table in the future?" Elijah asked, under clenched teeth._

_Katerina swallowed a lump in her throat, before lowering her head shamefully. He was right, she was always the one who reminded him of the circumstance they had met._

" _I'm sorry." She whispered her apology, before slowing raising her gleaming brown eyes to take a look at him. "But, you should be sorry for leaving me behind and locking me inside a cell?"_

" _I am … I truly am." He responded, truthfully, and with a single nod, before burying his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "Get out of the water, Katerina; you're freezing." Elijah ordered his wife._

" _I don't feel like it." She replied, with a raised eyebrow; while untangling her hair. "Being my husband doesn't mean you can order me around, Elijah."_

" _No, it doesn't; but staying in an icy cold water without turning your senses off is not the brightest idea you had." He commented, with a long sigh escaping his lips._

" _It doesn't beat the one of locking me into a cell, because you've decided that I was not able to defend myself like a man would, because I came from the fairer sex." She replied, confrontational._

" _To be frank, I still believe that." He mumbled, between his teeth._

" _What was that?" Katerina questioned, with her sight narrowed on the Original._

" _Nothing!" Elijah replied, dryly. "Are you getting out, or will I have to drag you out myself?"_

" _I'm not cold, it's actually very pleasant." She lied, under her chattering teeth, and shivering body._

" _Really? Your nipples are as hard as they can get, Katerina!" Elijah commented, while crossing his arms in front of his bulged chest._

_The brunette startled, before promptly crossing her arms in front of her breasts._

" _Don't you have anything else to do but examining me? I don't know like drink Vodka, and play poker around the camp fire, like "real" men would do?" She replied, icily. "And so you know; I used to take cold showers all the time; because my sister and I were without running hot water, in our tiny one room apartment, back in the days. So, the cold water is not a problem for me!" She added, angrily._

" _You lips are turning blue." He added, with a smirk._

" _Иди к черту_ _!"_ _She sent him to hell, in Russian._

" _Fine woman! God, you're as stubborn as you can get!" Elijah replied, before passing his turtleneck over his head; standing chest naked in front of his wife's sight._

" _What are you doing?" Katerina asked, with wide opened eyes._

" _You know what? I think it's a good idea to take a midnight bath, like you did, after all!" The Original replied, smiling; throwing his boots near the tree, pushing his pair of jeans and boxer down his legs; before standing naked as the day he was born in front of his wife's speechless expression._

" _Your damn ego is high, up in the sky, Elijah Mikaelson; you always want to be right!" Katerina mumbled, angrily; between her teeth; redness filling her cheeks._

" _I don't know what you're talking about, Katerina?" The Original replied, teasingly. "The "Poker" men and I, have been on the road, walking for days now; and a bath will do me good after all."_

" _Your Ego is obviously not the only thing that is up in the air!" The brunette commented, while immersing her body in the icy water._

" _Are you suggesting that seeing my wife naked would have no physical effect on me, Katerina?" Elijah smirked; lowering his sight on his man parts, while immersing his entire body in the cold water, before swimming in her direction._

" _I'm getting out!" Katerina rapidly darted toward the bench, with rapid swimming strokes and flutter kicks._

" _What's the rush?" Elijah promptly grabbed a hold on her left ankle, before promptly pulling her body toward him._

" _Let me go, Elijah!" She kicked her legs, with splashes of water. "I'm cold; I want to get out of the river!"_

" _I thought you weren't cold?" Elijah replied, pinning her shivering body on his burning one._

" _I don't want to be near you right now." Katerina replied, dryly._

" _Funny! You had no problem straddling my lap earlier in front of the group, isn't it right?" Elijah managed to push and held both of her closed fists behind her back; while keeping her immobile._

" _That's because I wanted to make you pay, not because I wanted to play a seduction game!" She lashed out, her fiery sight drown in her husband's._

" _You could have easily fooled me, wife." Elijah let a smirk raise both corners of his lips._

" _Elijah, let me go, please?" Katerina squirmed to free herself, tears filling her eyes under the intense mix of emotions._

" _You foolish woman! Couldn't you notice that you count more for me than life itself?" Elijah confessed, his right arm firmly placed around her waist to hold her captive, while his left hand released her wrists, only to maintain her head immobile, his sight now locked with hers._

" _You left me behind…Like I was nothing to you!" Katerina busted to his face, tears rolling down on her cheeks. "In my country, I was used to count only on myself before I've met you; and I was fine with it! I hate the fact that I'm so dependent of you now… I hate it, hate it…"_

" _I left you behind because you're everything to me; and the thought of putting you in this terrible danger was simply unbearable; I wanted you to live, Katerina – I had caused you enough pain as it is!" Elijah explained his motive, hoarsely; while grabbing her chin, their sights locked in an intense battle, before finally crashing his hard lips on her parted ones._

_The young female vampire let a muffled cry escape her lips, with her opened palms pushing on his muscular chest to regain her freedom; before letting an intense fire spread from her core to every particles of her body. She finally parted her lips, inviting his tongue to take possession of hers; with her legs easily wrapping themselves around his waist, underneath the water._

" _Are you sure that you aren't playing a seduction game with your husband, at the present moment, Katerina?" Elijah whispered the question, mouthing the words on her parted lips, slowly sliding his lips on the tender curve of her neck; while positioning his erected cock at her burning entrance._

"ублюдок… _You bastard!" The brunette grabbed a hand full of his dark locks, at the base of his neck to pull his head toward the back; before slowly filling herself of his hardness, the water cooling the intense fire joining both their burning flesh. "What's with the beard, anyway?" She questioned, with her pelvic slowly following the rhythm of his thrusts._

" _You don't like, Katerina?" He questioned, smirking, slowly bringing his wife out of the water; before lying her body on the bank ground; still buried deep inside the deepness of her core._

" _You're too sexy for my own good, Elijah Mikaelson." She replied, softly caressing his hairy cheeks; her lips gently nibbling on his bottom one. "I've lost my soul for you."_

" _Are you cold?" He wondered, worrying for her welfare; the tip of his fingers brushing a few loose strands away from her face._

" _No… Not anymore." She let a shy smile spread on her lips._

" _I love you, Katerina..." Elijah responded in a low whisper; while bringing her arms and hands above her head, before letting himself relapse into the tilt of her burning walls. "So much…More than life itself or anything else in this world; you're my bright light in the night, my sweet salvation." He added, with strong thrusts that left her panting._

" _Elijah …" A loud cry escaped her parted lips, in the middle of their erotic exchange. She raised her pelvis, with her legs firmly wrapped around his waist. "Promise me to never abandon me again?"_

" _I promise you, my beautiful wife… From now on; you'll stay by my side, forever." He whispered, his sight drown in hers; before slowly capturing her lips; keeping another silent promise to himself to make her cry his name one more time, while both reaching their climaxes._

* * *

_Klaus was now sitting on the cavern ground, in front of small camp fire. He suddenly turned his head and sight toward Carolina who had fallen asleep, her body wrapped inside a sleeping bag; her head resting on a small pillow; with a restful smile blessing the soft lines of her full lips._

_The hybrid strengthened his right arms, the tips of his fingers tracing the soft curve of her left cheek for a few seconds. He rapidly withdraw his hand when he heard a sigh of contentment escape her lips. She was so beautiful, and at peace at the moment. He angrily closed his fists, his facial features stiffening over the intense rage boiling inside of him. Petrov would pay for his betrayal! That's a promise he had made to himself._

_Another one was that Carolina and their child would always be safe of all danger from now one – danger that would include himself!_

_He had known centuries ago that he was a lethal threat to anyone who had the pretension to love him … And loving him was one of Carolina's weakness._


	32. A threat bigger than life

" _People, listen!" Ludvig Petrov yelled to the group, while scattering the camp site. "We're living the camp in five, so … Hurry your damn asses!"_

" _You've always been such a delicate flower in your ways to addressed others." Mikael chuckled, while grabbing his backpack to place it on his shoulders._

" _Oh shut up, Mikael; like you can talk?" Petrov replied, loud growling escaping his throat._

" _Hey brother! Where have you been? Playing tootsies under the blanket with Carolina?" Kol joked around to Klaus, who come out of the bushes, before furiously throwing both backpacks on the ground._

" _I'm not here to joke around, Kol!" The hybrid responded, keeping his rapid pace and narrowed sight on his biological brother._

" _Klaus! Please, don't do this – I beg of you!" Carolina came running on his heels; rushing her pace to keep up with his own._

" _Stay out of this, Carolina!" Klaus waved his right hand in a dismissing gesture. "It's between this rat and myself!"_

" _What's going on?" Elijah questioned Kol; making an entrance, with Katerina following close on his heels, while approaching the camp site._

" _I have no idea." Kol shrugged, dumbfounded. "He came out of nowhere?"_

" _You bastard!" Klaus pointed a finger toward Petrov, elbowing Mikael out of his path of destruction, throwing him on the ground at a few feet of distance, before grabbing his biological father by the collar to push him on a tree trunk._

" _What the fuck is your problem, Nicklaus?" Mikael yelled, outraged; while stumbling back on his legs._

" _What in the name of God!" Esther exclaimed, in shock; arriving on site with George standing by her side. "Elijah, what is happening?" She asked, while grabbing her son's right forearm._

" _I don't know, mother; but I obviously need to stop it." He replied, rushing his steps where the commotion was boiling to the point of explosion._

" _My problem is that this man is the worst vermin that you could have ever been, Mikael!" Klaus lashed out; taking the entire auditory by surprise by entering his right fist inside Petrov's chest to grab a hand full of his heart._

" _For fuck sake what are you doing?" Stefan yelled, before rushing by Elijah's side to try to pull Klaus away from his present victim._

" _Nicklaus, let go of his heart for God sake!" Elijah ordered, while trying to redraw his brother's wrist from Petrov's chest._

" _I want him to pay for what he did to my wife!" Klaus busted out of his system._

* * *

_**A few hours prior to the outburst…** _

" _We need to go back to the main camp." Klaus informed, toneless; while gathering their personal belongings._

" _And do what?" Carolina inquired, eyes closed; both hands crossed over her round belly._

" _Leave." He responded, in a single word._

" _While leaving me behind? Or am I tagging along this time?" She questioned more, while reopening her eyes._

" _Why would I leave you behind?" He shrugged, while avoiding her inquiring sight._

" _I don't know? Why did you before?" She shrugged, herself._

" _I've told you many times already, if I had put you in that cell it was to keep you safe from this lethal threat." He added, with a loud sigh._

" _Will you avoid looking at me all day?" Carolina asked, tears filling her eyes. "I'm guessing the delightful bliss that we've shared last night is a "thing" from the past, now?" She added, in a drier tone of voice._

" _I gave you what you needed at that moment." Klaus commented. "You needed the human touch, reassurance; tenderness… For once, I was able to oblige."_

" _Fuck you, Klaus! You took as much as I was willing to give to you!" She busted to his face. "Is making me "come" with your head between my legs a way to reassure me too?"_

" _You shouldn't upset yourself, it's not good for …" He suggested, unable to finish his sentence; while lowering his sight to her belly._

" _What? For the baby? You're not even able to say it out loud?" She questioned, while swallowing a lump in her throat._

" _It's a foreign concept to me, Carolina." Klaus gave the only explanation that he could think of at the present moment._

" _Really? A foreign concept? Was marrying a Russian girl via a marital agency a foreign concept also?" She busted to his face. "Or is the fun that you could gain from that "foreign concept" gone already?"_

" _Don't!" He growled, loudly; both closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body. "You're my wife, I give a fuck about the "when" or the "how" we've met!"_

" _And you also give a fuck about the child I'm carrying … You're child!" She lashed out more._

" _Because I did not choose to have this child; it was forced on me!" The hybrid yelled, hitting his bulged chest with his right closed fist._

" _I knew it … I knew deep down in my guts and soul that you hated the idea of having a child with me." Carolina lost all her colors; the sentence being pronounced in a weak whisper._

" _Oh for God sake, it's not the idea of having a child with you that is bothering me; it's more the fact that I have no idea what the future of this child will be. I suggest for you to grow up, Carolina!" Klaus spat, under clenched teeth. "This isn't a fairy tale! Having a child means more than conceiving it!"_

" _You think I don't know that? You think that I'm still young and naive?" She replied, dryly; a finger pointed toward her chest. "Let me tell you something, Klaus Mikaelson, being married to you has trashed all my naive dreams of little girl; I perfectly know that this wouldn't be a walk in the park for neither of us! But, I stupidly thought that you would cherish this amazing opportunity that life had thrown at us."_

" _Us? What about "him" or "her"?" Klaus replied, his eyes locked with Carolina's. "Did you … Did you even think for a second what that child will think of this messed up situation, when he'll or she'll grow up?"_

" _This is not your tale, Klaus; this is our child' tale; don't mix the two, please?" Carolina raised her right hand to caress the manly line of his jaw. "This child would be loved by both parents. There would not be any ambiguity about that fact."_

" _Don't, Carolina…" Klaus shook his head; gently pushing his wife's hands away. "Don't pity me, please."_

" _Pity you? I would never pity you, Klaus; but I know how much you have suffered your entire life about the way you were conceived; and about Mikael and the lack of love you've received from him." She added, in a softer tone of voice. "I know in my heart that you have always felt like you were not deserving of love. And with the sudden discovery that Petrov is your biological father, this was too much for you to handle."_

" _Maybe I wasn't meant to be love." He replied, wiping tears that were rolling on his cheeks._

" _I-love-you, Klaus Mikaelson; regardless of your parents, the way you were brought into this world, even regardless of your bad moods and ruthless behavior." Carolina confessed, cupping his face with both hands. "I love you for "you"! For the fact that you would sacrificed everything for the ones you love." She added, lowering her forehead on his. "Even if most of the times, you wreak havoc on all of us."_

" _Maybe you shouldn't love me… Look at all the heartache I gave you; Love? You deserve so much more than this, so much more than me." He came to the mere conclusion._

" _My place is "here", with you and our child." She confirmed, bringing his right hand over her belly._

" _I felt a strong kick!" Klaus exclaimed, a smile spreading on his manly lips._

" _Yes; he's or she's pretty fed up with the bad attitude of his or her father." She replied, with a single wink._

" _Regardless, Carolina; I can't let this pregnancy put your life in danger." He shook his head, swallowing a lump in his throat. "We have no way of knowing if giving birth to this child will kill you or not? If giving birth to this child could make me lose you?" He added, nervously. "I can't even…"_

" _Shush!" The young human female placed a finger on top of his parted lips. "It's my choice to make, not yours."_

" _It's time to leave." He pushed himself at arm length, before grabbing both of their backpacks and sleeping bags._

" _Klaus, please…Just promise me to not lose your calm back at the camp?" She begged of him._

" _I'll wait for you outside." That were the last words she heard being whispered from his mouth; before seeing him step outside the cavern._

* * *

" _Were you on drugs when you suddenly decided to share this insane marriage idea of yours with my brothers?" Rebekah came out of nowhere, while standing at a few feet of distance of the river; closed fists placed on each side of her waist._

" _Good morning to you too, Rebekah!" Stefan replied, coldly; before grabbing a towel to dry his face. "And what does it change anyway? It's not like you want to get married to me – Or did I mistake the speech you gave to your audience, yesterday?"_

" _What was I supposed to do? Agreeing to your eccentricity of the moment, Stefan?" Rebekah shrugged her shoulders, fatalistically._

" _That's what you think you are to me, an "eccentricity"?" Stefan turned on himself to face the blonde vampire; throwing the towel on his naked chest and right shoulder, before taking a few walking steps to reach her own standing position._

" _Frankly Stefan; I have no idea what I am to you?" She replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "One day you could easily leave me in a cell, and the next asking me to marry you!"_

" _If I recall, I have asked for you to marry me before we left Petrov's mansion!" Stefan busted out. "As for leaving you in a cell, it was essentially for your own safety, Rebekah."_

" _Like it was for my own safety when you left me on the side of the road so many years ago?" She questioned him; chin raised and fiery sight narrowed on the young vampire._

" _I was young and foolish back then." Stefan swallowed a lump in his throat; before agreeing with a single nod. "And you were naïve, insufferable and childish."_

" _So much for you marrying this naive, insufferable, childish woman then!" Rebekah replied, tears filling her eyes; before turning on her heels to leave the river bank._

" _Bekah, please?" Stefan grabbed her left upper arm; swirling her body around to face him; both hands now placed on her shoulders. "What I wanted to say is that we both changed… We're so different now; but my feelings for you are still the same."_

" _It wouldn't work." She shook her head, a veil of sadness covering her eyes. "I would get on your nerves in no time – We would end up getting a divorce in faster time!"_

" _You're getting on my last freaking nerves every day, baby – This wouldn't be any different." Stefan commented, a small laughter escaping his lips; both hands cupping her face. "And getting on my nerves is what makes me love you even more."_

" _It's … It's a stupid idea! We are vampires, and vampires don't get married… Not for an eternity that is. Who would endure the same person for an eternity?" Rebekah tried to give weight to her side of the argument._

" _Well, two of your brothers for starter!" Stefan commented, a smirk raising both sides of his manly lips._

" _And look how good this has turned out?" Rebekah exclaimed, with wide opened eyes; raising both hands to grab his wrists._

" _Come on, Rebekah; I've never seen your brothers so crazy in love before." Stefan exclaimed, a smile spreading on his lips. "Carolina and Katerina have changed them for the better. And I highly doubt this is not forever for them."_

" _When did you become such a romantic, Salvatore?" Rebekah whispered, her sight fixated on his lips._

" _I've always been a romantic, Bekah, it's you who was the rebellious one, remember?" He arched an eyebrow, a smirk raising the left side of his manly lips._

" _It's the danger, it's bringing a euphoria that we can't control!" She came to the single conclusion, pacing back and forth in front of her lover._

" _Well, it'll be a danger in itself to be married to you, I can't argue with that!" Stefan teased, before being hit on his left forearm by Rebekah's right fist. "Hey! What did I say?"_

" _You're making fun of this, you're making fun of me in front of my brothers!" Rebekah lashed out to his face, a pointed finger underneath his nose._

" _I'm not making fun of you, Rebekah – For God sake; I've asked your hand in marriage to your brothers – Do you even realize how fucking hard this was?" Stefan spat back. "I could easily had my heart pulled out of my chest!"_

" _The only way we'll be able to get out of this is if you redraw your request to them." She came to the logical conclusion, shrugging her shoulders._

" _What? No! Why would I redraw my request to have your hand in marriage?" Stefan shook his head._

" _Because! We need to find a way to get ourselves out of the mess you've just created!" Rebekah replied, hitting his chest of her closed fist._

" _Wanting to marry you is not a mess that I've just created, Rebekah!" He replied, dryly._

" _Find a way to get us out of this mess, you hear me?" She poked his chest, before turning on her heels to head toward the main camp._

" _No! I won't find a way to get us out of this mess! You'll marry me, Rebekah Mikaelson; and this even if I have to put you on my shoulder and drag you in the church and in front of the fucking priest myself!" He shouted to her, hitting the trunk of a tree with the tip of his right boot; before swearing to himself at the intense pain._

* * *

" _Mm…What is happening?" Katerina leaped in her sleep; suddenly rising her upper body in a sitting position; before frantically scattering the river bank and forest._

" _Good morning, wife!" Elijah winked, playfully; while lying on a bed of leaves, in the glory of his nakedness, his head raised on his hand, with the help of his left forearm._

" _Elijah, what the hell? I'm naked… And I'm … We're in the middle of nowhere!" Katerina exclaimed, in shock; still in the blur of her morning awakening._

" _Well… The naked part is majorly your fault. You took a midnight bath in the river, and I had no other choices but to undress myself." He informed her, teaser. "Though, the lying naked on a bed of leaves is all mine. We made passionate love, last night; Katerina."_

" _Oh…Yes, it's all coming back to me now." The Brunette passed a hand through her matted hair. "I'm still mad at you though. You're an asshole for locking me in a cell!"_

" _You weren't that mad at me last night?" Elijah whispered, his lips languorously sliding on the delicious curve of her neck; while pinching the erected nipple of her right breast. "And I think you could be ready for round two – Or am I mistaking?"_

" _You took me by surprise last night, with your "over the top" sexiness and your scruff look, and I couldn't react appropriately!" She tried to push him at arm length; before letting out a small cry after being pushed back into a lying position, her husband wedging her body between his legs._

" _моя любовь_ _!_ " _The Original whispered, sensually; both hands sliding on the delicious curves of her hips. "And it wasn't a scruff look!"_

" _Don't you whisper sweet things in Russian in my ears – It won't change a thing!" Katerina raised her chin; her sight locked with her husband's. "It won't change the fact that you've abandoned me!"_

" _I thought you love when I whisper sweet "things" in your ear in Russian?" Elijah smirked, grabbing her right hand before kissing each of her fingertips._

" _You're too damn handsome for my own good, Elijah Mikaelson!" Katerina replied, a small smile raising the left corner of her luscious lips._

" _So, I've been told by my beautiful, sexy, "I bathe in the river naked", wife." Elijah grinned, while raising both eyebrows in a comical way._

" _I did not have cold feet! And I am not ashamed of my body, Elijah!" She replied._

" _You shouldn't, you have a beautiful body – I've been drawn to you since the first time I laid my eyes on you; and this beautiful ass of yours." He slapped her bottom; playfully._

" _You were meant to be with Carolina, remember?" Katerina objected, vehemently._

" _Oh yes, I do remember!" Elijah busted into laughter; rolling on himself to take back his laying positon near his wife. "Me and Nicklaus we were trying to keep our cool and straight faces, while realizing that we were paired with the contrary woman."_

" _You were really attracted to me at first glance?" She asked, mostly surprised._

" _Are you doubting this true fact?" Elijah turned his head to address a smile at his wife._

" _Carolina is really beautiful too, who knows?" She shrugged, redness filling her cheeks._

" _She is; but she's not truly my type." He commented, with a single shrug._

" _What's your type, then?" She asked, teaser._

" _Sexy brunette, who's a real pain in my ass, with a strong will to contradict me all the time!" Elijah replied, truthfully._

" _You're saying that to be nice." Katerina buried her sudden flush and head in his left shoulder, small laughter escaping her lips._

" _Oh no, the sexy brunette part is mostly truthful." He mocked, before softly kissing her forehead._

" _Are we going to die?" She asked, unceremoniously; before losing her smile._

" _No." Elijah shook his head._

" _How can you know? This threat is real, Elijah… And my sister…" She questioned, biting into her bottom lip; while tears filled her eyes._

" _She'll be fine! Klaus would give his own eternal life to save her, before anything could happen to your sister. You need to be certain of that fact, Katerina." Elijah commented, before interlacing his fingers with the ones of her right hand._

" _I'm not the number one fan of your brother, by a long shot; but I know in my heart that this is the truth." She admitted, reluctantly._

" _We need to go back to the camp." He suggested, before turning his head to brush her lips of a sweet kiss._

" _Is your right hand cold and placed on my hips right now?" Katerina wondered with big eyes._

" _No on both accounts, why?" Elijah questioned._

" _Oh my God!" The young female vampire jumped on her feet; jumping from one foot to the other; while screaming from the top of her tongue._

" _Katerina! For God sake, lower your screams, it's only an armless snake!" Elijah grabbed the small animal by the head, before throwing it at a few feet of distance._

" _Only a small snake; are you out of your freaking mind!" She glanced at him; dumbfounded._

" _Well, I think you saw a bigger one last night; or am I mistaking?" The Original teased, under his burst of laughter; while grabbing his jeans left on the ground. "Get dress, gorgeous!" he suggested, with a wink._

" _Oh! Just shut up would you?" The brunette replied; her eyes throwing darts._

* * *

" _Is it a bad time?" Maria inquired, standing at a few feet of distance from George's sleeping bag, placed near the river._

_The tall, dark hair vampire turned his head, taking a quick glance at the female Original, drops of water dropping from his face, down on his bare torso. He grabbed a towel, drying the water from his face._

" _It there something I can do for you, Maria? Are we leaving the camp site already?" He replied, toneless; both hands now placed on each side of his waist._

" _I … Well, I believe we are very close to leave, indeed … But, that is not why I'm here, George; if you could grant me the time to…" Maria begged him; a hand raised in front of her chest._

" _If it's regarding my functions as a bodyguard, I'm here for you, Maria; otherwise I think it would be wiser and easier if we forget about … I mean…" He sighed loudly, before grabbing a clean t-shirt to dress himself. "Forget about what happened between us."_

" _You're angry, mad and resentful about what happened at the compound, and frankly I would be in your shoes." Maria tried to ease George's anger._

" _I'm here for you, Maria, always… But…" The young vampire growled, biting the inside of his cheeks; closed fists placed along his tensed body. "I can't be the man that will step aside; while you rekindle your past relationships with both Mikael and Petrov; and this at the same time!"_

" _Oh for God sake, George; slapping me in the face would be less hurtful than throwing these harsh and false insinuations to my face!" Maria lashed out, taking a step forward; with her chin and fiery sight raised at him._

" _Pulling my heart out of my chest would be less hurtful than seeing you flirt with both of your exes, Maria!" George spat back, sight locked, his face at a near inch of hers._

" _I know, I am aware of how this looks … But, it's really not what you think." She begged for him to listen, her right hand raised on his bulged chest._

" _I can't, Maria; I simply can't…" He shook his head, biting into his bottom lip._

" _I … I regained my memory." Maria finally confessed._

" _What?" George exclaimed, grabbing both of her shoulders._

" _I remember everything about my past life: my marriage to Mikael, Elijah, and Finn… When I had met Ludvig … Everything." She explained in more details._

" _And you kept quiet about it to each and all? When… I mean, when did you regain your memory exactly?" He inquired._

" _Little by little, blurred images, conversations that I had … But all really came back to me when we were locked up in the cells." She confessed, truthfully; taking a step back before turning her back at her lover. "I wasn't Maria anymore; I was this woman who betrayed her husband and had an affair with another man, before learning that I was carrying this man' child." She added, by repenting of her sins. "Furthermore, I remembered everything about the "man" that we are calling our threat now."_

" _The fact that you are remembering about this "threat" is not adding any more danger than what we are in right now." He tried to calm her worries. "As for your son, Klaus; he never held a grudge against you." He mentioned, more as a fact than a question._

" _I know." She nodded, before wrapping her own arms around her chest. "But, he's still suffering for my past' mistakes."_

" _But you knew about all of these past events already – You basically knew the woman you were back then, Maria?" George replied, compassionate; approaching her present standing position; before cluing his body to her back, both hands placed on her shoulders, with his chin tucked on top of Maria's head. "You shouldn't be ashamed of yourself; you have "loved" with all your heart, and maybe you have made mistakes; but you've never intended to be selfish or to hurt anybody."_

" _You're a very kind man, George." Maria complimented; tears filling her eyes. "It's just hard to relive all your life all at once, and suddenly realizing that you could have changed the outcome but have chosen a different path."_

" _All of this is in the past now, Maria" George replied, softly kissing the top of her hair, before raising an eyebrow at her silent response. "Or is it?" He wondered out loud, turning her body around to face him. "Do you still have feelings for both of these men?"_

" _It is in the past… But…" She contradicted her own say._

" _But?" He raised the question, once more; while lifting her chin to meet her gaze. "You've realized that you still have feelings for one or both of them?"_

" _I remember so much now … My fear, my hopes, and the fact that I truly loved both of them at one period of my long life." She replied, truthful._

" _I see…" George lowered his hand, before taking a step back._

" _No you don't!" Maria grabbed both of his wrists, her sight locked with the young vampire's. "I've said: I truly "loved" both of them, in the past tense, George. Please, comprehend that I owe them the truth about the fact that I've regained my memory."_

" _I understand." George nodded, with a single nod. "And I would also understand if for some obscure reason, your heart would beat for one of them…Once more."_

" _It won't happen." Maria cupped his face with both hands. "Simply for the single fact that…"_

" _That…" George questioned, with a raised eyebrow._

" _Simply for the single fact that … I've fallen in love with you, George." The Original confessed, lowering her sight; a deep shade of red covering her cheeks._

" _Are you sure?" George questioned, grabbing both of her upper arms; a smile of "hope" spreading on his manly lips._

" _I just … I just remembered what "love" felt like… and…" She stammered through her sentence, raising her sight to meet his dark glance._

" _And?" The bodyguard questioned, pulling her body in the comfort of his arms; while cupping her face with both hands._

" _And … It's what I feel for and when I'm with you." Maria finally confessed, tears filling her eyes, nervous laughter escaping her throat._

" _Oh Maria…" George let a loud sigh escape his lips, his fingers caressing her cheeks while brushing off the tears from her face. "Are you sure?"_

" _I'm sure of my heart skipping a beat every time I'm near you." She confessed, humbly. "But I've giving you so much heartache already and …"_

" _Shush!" George pushed a finger on her parted lips to silence her. "Beautiful Maria; you just made me the happiest man in the world." He added, before brushing her lips of a kiss._

" _George…" Maria let a moan and the whisper of his name escape her lips. "I need to talk to both Mikael and Ludvic."_

" _I know… And I understand." George replied, leaving an additional kiss on Maria's forehead, while softly rocking her in his arms._

* * *

" _Motus! Que ta vi se nobis exsistente!" Bonnie raised both hands while reciting the incantation; a vortex of strong winds sweeping leaves and small pieces of wood on its path of destruction._

" _Playing around with you magic, Bonnie?" She suddenly lowered her hands and magic down, while hearing the question being whispered near her left ear, soft lips brushing the sensitive spot on her earlobe._

" _Exercising my power, trying to save all our asses would be more accurate, Kol!" She pushed herself at arm length, taking a few walking steps in front of her; before facing the river, chin rose, arms crossed over her chest._

" _You're still mad at me for locking you in a cell, aren't you?" Kol strike both of his eyelids; raising his head to the blue sky._

" _I don't know, what do you think? What gave me away, mm? Is it the fact that I can't even be in your presence anymore?" Bonnie replied, dryly. "You had no right, Kol Mikaelson… And certainly not one over me!"_

" _I know, but … It… It was for your own good, darling … I … I did what seemed right at the time." Kol stammered through his sentence; and God knows he was not one who stammered oftentimes! "As for not being able to be in my presence, I thought we were a "thing" now? Like a "couple" or something?"_

" _A thing? I give a fuck about you, Kol Mikaelson!" She retraced her steps to reach his standing position, pocking his bulged chest with a straight finger. "If it wasn't for Carolina – We wouldn't have known each other! Don't ever presume you're my keeper or my savor, or I'll fry your brain into hashes." She added, steam coming out of her ears. "I'm my own person, I can save myself, am I clear?"_

" _It couldn't be clearer to me." He replied, lowering his sight, nervously rubbing both hands together, while nodding obediently. "You're saying this, but it's not true that you're not giving a fuck about me, right?" He asked, raising slowly his head and sight to meet Bonnie's gaze, with an adorable puppy face._

" _Oh… really?" Bonnie rolled her eyes to the blue sky. "The puppy face? The teary eyes? How foolish do you think I am?"_

" _Because… You see … Loosing "me" would mean losing this amazing body that you love so much, and…" Kol commented, teaser; taking a few steps toward the young witch; before being cut in his momentum._

" _Shush!" Bonnie waved a finger underneath his nose. "You're not allowed to talk; or I'll turn you into a rat!"_

" _But, Bonnie … You, turning me into a rat would surely shrank a part of my anatomy. The part that you seem to love so much." Kol shrugged, comically. "I'm just saying." He added, both opened palms raised in the air._

" _Oh for God sake, we've slept together a few times it's not a big deal, I was passing the time to be truthful." Bonnie shrugged, indifferent; with the mere intention to hurt him. "And, now we're done!" She added, under clenched teeth. "I have better things to do with my life than sticking around and be the "sex-toy" of an ancient vampire! I want to travel and see the world; and frankly I want to sleep with other men too!"_

" _I'm not ancient, I'm an "Original"!" Kol objected, vehemently. "And why would you want to sleep with other man after me? Frankly it's like eating a hamburger after tasting a "filet mignon"!"_

" _I like hamburgers! And …Original my ass!" Bonnie started to pace back and forth over a path of leaves. "You know what you are? You're a spoiled brat, Kol Mikaelson! The bad-boy of the Originals family who seems to think that he's allowed to be an ass to everybody – including me!"_

" _I'm a spoiled brat? I'm a bad boy? Well… The last one, probably, but it's beside the point." Kol exclaimed, in shock; pointing toward his own chest. "The point being, darling; that I truly believe you have it in reverse. It's you who's a shrew, who never seem to be happy and it takes a saint like me to endure you! And, you were pretty satisfied when this bad-boy was lying between your legs, weren't you?!"_

" _I'm a shrew? I'm a shrew?" The young witch spat in rage; the aura of her magic generating some flashes of light in the above blue sky. "And don't you dare mentioning our sexy times in a way to get back at me!"_

" _Well, you're not exactly the "nice" type, aren't you?" Kol shrugged, unapologetically; rapidly glancing at the darker sky. "Why? You're ashamed or the few times you begged me for more?"_

" _You know what? FINE! I'm a shrew – Simply because I'm not kneeling in front of your majesty Kol, agreeing to be the "sweet-agreeable" witch girlfriend; when you perfectly know that I'm not the goody-two shoes type of girl!" Bonnie commented, furiously; with the wind rising in intensity. "I'm powerful, I'm strong, and I'm able to take care of myself – I'm not a damsel in distress that needs the mighty strong Kol Mikaelson to rescue her."_

" _Did you implied that you were my "girlfriend" just now?" Kol raised an eyebrow, with a smirk raising the right side of his manly lips. "And would you lower your tone and magic down, for God sake; our lovers' quarrel is not concerning the rest of the group, sweetheart!" He ordered, before scattering their surroundings; worrying about her strong manifestations of magic._

" _Don't "sweetheart me! This is not a lovers' quarrel! This is nothing …. You're nothing to me!" Bonnie held her pace, raising her chin and sight at him, both closed fists placed on each side of her waist. "You can go to hell for what I care, Kol Mikaelson!"_

" _Fine, you can go to hell too, Bonnie Bennett!" Kol replied, dryly; while imitating her posture._

" _Fine!" She nodded, biting nervously into her bottom lip._

" _Fine!" He repeated, his sight fixated on her lip. "Stop doing that, would you?"_

" _What?" Bonnie asked, breathless._

" _Biting your bottom lip." Kol replied, while licking his own. "It drives me crazy!"_

" _And? What will you do about it?" She bit her lip even more to play with his nerves._

" _I just want to kiss you!" He growled loudly, before grabbing her left wrist to crash her on his muscular chest; cupped her face, his lips crashing on hers a second later._

_Bonnie squirmed while trying to find a way out of his passionate embrace, kicking her legs in every directions; both wrists pulled behind her back to held her immobile. She finally let a loud moan of pleasure escape her lips, before letting him take possession of her mouth, his tongue invading her mouth._

" _I almost lost it when the explosion happened at Petrov's mansion; I thought I had lost you." Kol confessed, mouthing the words on top of her parted lips. "I have fallen hard for you, Bonnie Bennett; and I don't fall easily, believe me." He added, leaving a trail of kisses on her cheeks, eyelids and forehead. "I don't want a goody-two-shoes girl; I want you! And if you haven't figure that part out, darling; you haven't figure anything." He confessed, humbly. "We're in this together, Bennett! We'll fight this threat together; and afterward, you'll travel around the world, but you won't be alone… I'll be by your side, darling."_

" _Kol…" Bonnie whispered his name, a range of intense shivers hitting her body all at once. "You're insufferable and I hate you!" She added, in a mix of laughter and tears._

" _If this is your unique way to proclaim your love for me; I'll take it!" He grinned, happily; before capturing her lips once more._

* * *

" _A beautiful mermaid who's floating majestically in the middle of the ocean, how more poetic this can be?" Vittorio commented, teaser; leaning his right shoulder and upper arm on a tree trunk._

" _Vittorio, my darling…" Anastassia playfully waved her fingers at her male friend; her body emerged from waist to toes, with her perky breasts offered to the rays of the morning sun and to her friend's sight. "An ocean… Are you blind? It's a filthy river; I'm not even sure there isn't a dead body hiding somewhere in the water?" She wrinkled her nose with disdain._

" _Not a dead body, sweetheart; just dead fishes!" He shrugged his shoulders. "And you know me, I like to put frilly and sequins in our day to day life." He added, smiling and winking._

" _Vittorio … Do you think my breasts are down on my chest? I mean lower than usual or am I imagining things?" Anastassia lowered her sight down on her body, cupping both breasts with her hands. "Is it possible for a vampire to experience aging like humans?"_

" _What?!" Vittorio exclaimed in shock over her own say; taking a few steps to reach the river bank. "Girlfriend, what are you talking about? Your breasts are the most delightful sight. And no, vampires are not aging like humans. Both of your melons are safe from the law of attraction!"_

" _Thank you, Vittorio, you're my sweet pea!" Anastassia blow her friend a kiss._

" _Is it your present boy-toy who's triggering all these insecurities inside of you? Vittorio wondered out loud._

" _I don't know what or whom you're talking about?" Anastassia shrugged, a light shade of red covering her cheeks._

" _Really? Let see … Dark, handsome, sexy as hell, Damon Salvatore, ringing a bell to you?" Vittorio inquired, while tilting his head to the right._

" _Nope! Not in the slightest." She added, glancing at her nails._

" _What is this?" They both heard the loud question; before turning simultaneously their heads toward the intruder._

" _Oh look who's just pop out of nowhere, my dear?" Vittorio commented, grinning._

" _Why are you looking at the naked breasts of my girlfriend?" Damon questioned the warlock, eyes widely opened; a straight finger pointed toward Anastassia._

" _Well, Why are you asking, darling? Would you prefer if I was looking at your naked chest?" Vittorio questioned, winking at the young male vampire. "But for that, you need to go commando, my friend; I can't judge of the merchandise if you're not standing naked in front of my sight."_

" _Could you ask your warlock friend to leave?" Damon gave his request to the redhead bombshell. "And … Could you, like… plunge your upper body in the water, please?"_

" _No on both accounts!" Anastassia replied, with a single shrug. "You don't like the company, leave! You don't like what you're seeing, don't look!"_

" _It's ok, baby… Vittorio knows when he's not welcomed." He replied, grinning. "I'll leave you with your new "toy- boy"."_

" _Vittorio, you don't have to leave on his account!" Anastassia replied, while caressing her breasts in a sensual way; under Damon's clenched teeth and fiery sight._

" _I'm not her "toy-boy"!" The young vampire growled, unhappy. "And don't hit the door on your way out!" He added, to a deaf ear; Vittorio was already gone._

" _Can you get out of the way; you're blocking the sun!" Anastassia ordered him, dryly._

" _Fat chance, sweetheart; now get out of the water!" He replied, with a hand gesture._

" _Tell me something, did I miss the memo saying I owe you anything and everything? Because as of now, I can only recall that I give a fucking crap about you, Damon Salvatore." Anastassia informed him, unceremoniously._

" _I'm guessing we're leaving soon, so … That's why I'm asking you to get out of the damn water. I want you to get ready." Damon informed her, both closed fists placed on each side of his waist._

" _Asking or ordering?" The Russian girl questioned, slowly getting out of the water; before placing her naked figure at a few feet of distance of her interlocutor. "Because you see, Damon; I only take orders in the bedroom." She winked, playfully._

" _I thought…" Damon tried to articulate, biting into his bottom lip._

" _Yes, you thought what?" She raised both eyebrows, arms crossed over her naked breasts._

" _I thought that I was making the right call when your father approached me with the idea of locking you in a cell. I thought it would keep you safe." He confessed, shamefully. "Could you …" He turned his sight around to finally grab a long white shirt of hers. "Put something on yourself" He thrown the piece of fabric to the redhead._

" _Damon Salvatore, since when are you shy about my naked body?" She smirked, while passing the long shirt above her head, down on her silhouette. "There, happy?"_

" _Much better." He nodded, a nerves twitching in his right cheek._

" _And, since when are you an item with my father, anyway?" Anastassia winced at the idea; bending her upper body to grab a pair of jeans left on the ground. "The mere idea that one of my one-night stand could be friend with my father is killing my sex drive."_

" _Since the both of us care so much about you." Damon let the admission slip out of his lips._

_The redhead raised her head; she stared at him for a few seconds, her eyes locked with his in an intense silent exchange._

" _Well…" Anastassia finally turned her head away from his intense gaze; a light color of red filling her cheeks. "My welfare or security is certainly not of your concerns, Salvatore." She shrugged, falsely indifferent; while pulling her jeans up on her legs. "We slept together, a few times; that doesn't mean you're entitled to run my life. It simply means that we "fuck" and now you're free to gather pollen on other flowers."_

" _Listen to me… I've asked your father if I could … I mean … If he had any objections if I was dating you." Damon confessed, humbly._

" _You're joking, right?" Anastassia exclaimed. "And you're still standing in front of my sight with all members attached to your body?" She added, in shock._

" _Anastassia… I know … I know it started as a sexual relationship between the two of us … But; you're driving me insane, and …" Damon tried to articulate his feelings. "You're so beautiful, intelligent, sexy and kinky…"_

" _Are you insane?" She commented, nervously pacing back and forth in front of the river bank._

" _I want more. I think… No, I'm actually certain that you could be "it" for me." He admitted._

" _No, no, no … I don't want to heart your weak attempt to seduce me." She shook her head; her mind not being able to realize what was truly happening with his admission._

" _Then, hear this!" Damon grabbed both of Anastassia's shoulders, pulling her on his chest, before crashing his mouth on her red lips, while silencing her cry of surprise. "Now, the ball is in your court, sweetheart; but just know that I won't crawl to win you over." He mouthed the words on top of her parted lips. "It's time that you realize my worth." He added; pushing himself at arm length, turning on his heels; before heading back to the main camp._

" _What the hell was this?" Anastassia questioned, mouth opened; a hand raised over her lips._

* * *

_**Back to the present time…** _

" _Fuck Nicklaus! What are you talking about?" Elijah replied, pushing and keeping Nicklaus' hand inside Petrov' torso, forbidding him to pull his heart out._

" _For fuck sake, Klaus; are you losing your mind?" Stefan repeated, himself; while giving a helpful hand to the eldest of the Originals, to retain Klaus for doing the unthinkable._

" _Klaus! Listen to me!" Carolina rushed by their standing positions. "I beg of you; let your father go… Do it for me, my love?"_

" _No!" Klaus shook his head; father's and son's sights lock in an intense duel of power. "Step aside, Carolina; this is between me and my father now. He has done enough to hurt you."_

" _You, jerk! You have the audacity of telling that "this" is between you and your father?" Carolina replied, dryly; a finger pointing to her belly. "When you perfectly know that I'm one important factor in this equation?!"_

" _Carolina; what is going on, sister?" Katerina reached the commotion, before grabbing her sister's hands to slowly turn her body around. "Please, talk to me?" She begged, softly caressing both of her cheeks._

" _I've told him that we should have waited to tell all of you the news." Carolina mumbled, shaking her head; left under a jerky breathing. "But…But, he's so unpredictable that I couldn't stop him…Stop this!" She added, before falling on her knees; while holding her belly._

" _Carolina, Are you ok?" Katerina kneeled by her sister's side, questioning; while pushing a few strands away from her sister's forehead._

" _I have a few cramps." Carolina replied, while taking deep breaths inside her lungs. "I'll be OK."_

" _How does it feel to have your son holding your heart; ready to rip it off your chest? Can you tell me father?" Klaus asked, under clenched teeth._

" _Do it!" Petrov managed to let it out. "If it's really what you want; I can't stop you."_

" _Come on, Klaus; let him go?" Both Elijah and Stefan shouted their orders, simultaneously._

" _What the hell?" Anastassia exclaimed over the scenery, while reaching the camp site; Damon following close on her heels. "Papa?" She yelled some more, in complete shock, before rushing to her father; only to be retained on her momentum by the young vampire's arms placed around her waist._

" _Don't make it worse than it looks now; let me take care of it." Damon whispered in her left ear, before pushing the Russian beauty toward Kol. "Give me a hand, would you?"_

" _Sure thing!" Kol nodded; while grabbing both of Anastassia's upper arms._

" _Bonnie! Tell your "boyfriend" to let me go, please?!" Anastassia begged her new found friend; squirming to free herself of Kol's grip._

" _I'm sorry, sweetheart; not this time!" Bonnie shook her head, compassionate; with a single nod addressed to Kol. "It's better for you to stay out of this quarrel."_

" _Thank you." Kol mouthed the words, with a single wink addressed to the witch, while appreciating her indulgence. He perfectly knew how Bonnie felt in regard of the sexism between the men and women in the group; but she had obviously understood that it was safer to keep Anastassia on a leash for her own safety._

" _You need a hand?" George grabbed Klaus by the neck; giving an extra hand to both Elijah and Stefan, while holding the Hybrid's on his quest to kill his father._

" _Well, this is certainly appreciated!" Elijah replied to his bodyguard._

" _What are you trying to accomplish, Klaus?" Maria reached their standing positions, near the tree; before raising her chin at her son._

" _Stay out of it, mother!" Klaus kept his sight locked with his father's. "It's between myself and your past lover."_

" _Did you even think for a minute that you could upset your wife and cause her physical discomfort?" Maria asked, under clenched teeth._

" _Listen to your mother…" Petrov managed to whisper, almost out of breaths._

" _She's fine!" Klaus tried to convince himself; forbidding himself to take a single glance toward his wife._

" _No she's not fine, Klaus!" Maria replied, in a dryer tone of voice. "Look at her, please?"_

_The hybrid finally granted himself the chance to take a quick glance at his wife; noticing her sudden kneeling position near her sister, with her head bended, both hands holding her belly._

" _Carolina?" He called, softly; finally regaining his calmer self. "Love, are you ok?"_

" _She's probably experimenting some cramps, you need to stop, and you need to stop now, Klaus!" Maria begged his son, once more._

" _Mikaelson!" Damon busted, sneaking his head between Elijah's and Stefan's positions. "You! Fucked up in the head asshole! Let go of Anastassia's father now!"_

_With a loud growl coming from the deepness of his soul; Klaus pulled his hand out of Petrov's chest, taking a few steps back; slowly turning his fiery sight to transfer his rage on the young vampire, before grabbing Damon by the throat, only to push him on the ground a second later; while maintaining the poor victim under his claws._

" _Are you ok?" Mikael reached Petrov's standing position; before sliding an arm around his torso to help him stand._

" _I'll live." Petrov nodded, while addressing him a thankful nod._

" _Papa!" Anastassia rushed toward her father; after being released of Kol's strong grip on her._

" _It's ok, I'm ok; it takes more than this to get rid of me." Petrov pulled his daughter in the comfort of his arms._

" _Thank God!" Anastassia commented, turning her sight toward Damon._

" _Go to him! He needs you too." Petrov pushed her toward the young vampire._

" _Are you hurt?" Maria asked their present leader, a hand raised on his wounded chest._

" _I'll be fine, don't worry about me, Maria." Petrov nodded, with a shy smile._

" _For fuck sake, Klaus; let go of my brother!" Stefan turned on himself, before kneeling on the ground to grab the hybrid's arm._

" _Are you done for the day?" Elijah spitted, angrily; while him and George switched their effort to help Damon this time._

" _What did you call me, Salvatore?" Klaus busted to Damon; while cutting all oxygen in the young vampire's lungs; his victim's face suddenly turning blue._

_The force of the sudden impact pushed Elijah, Stefan and George at a few feet of distance, while rolling on the ground, before freeing Damon and pushing Klaus in a lying position, with Katerina's left forearm firmly pushed on his throat._

" _Listen to me, Klaus; if you're not holding your anger, and continue to create havoc on all of us, while making my sister cry and put in danger her health; I swear to God, even if it's almost impossible to kill you; I'll find a way!" The brunette lashed out, while holding him immobile on the ground._

" _Are you OK?" Stefan helped Elijah raise back on his legs._

" _Fuck, this is my wife!" The Original exclaimed, proudly; a smile spreading on his lips. "I didn't know she had it in her. I couldn't be more proud now!"_

" _And you're right – She's a force of nature that one!" Stefan commented, with a small laughter._

" _Are you both OK?" Rebekah rushed toward her eldest brother and lover._

" _We'll live." Elijah nodded, while addressing a smile to his sister._

" _Yes." Stefan nodded, before pulling the blonde in the comfort of his arms. "Remind me why I'm friends with your brother?"_

" _Because you're crazy." Rebekah raised her sight, before hugging him._

" _That's make all of us then." Elijah commented._

" _Damon! Are you OK?" Anastassia rushed, kneeling by the vampire's side to help him stand._

" _Well, look at that? Miss Anastassia Petrov who's worrying about me?" He gently mocked, sliding his left arm around her shoulders, to help him keep his equilibrium._

" _Of course I'm worrying about you, Jerk!" She responded, while hitting her right fist on his chest._

" _Tell your wife to let me go, Elijah… Or I swear…" Klaus growled, unhappy._

" _Or you'll swear nothing; you deserved nothing more but being thrown on your back by a strong woman!" Elijah replied, dryly; while handing his right hand to his wife to help her get back on her feet. "Now, get up!" He ordered to his brother._

" _You should keep your wife on a leash, Elijah!" Klaus spitted to his face, while standing on his two legs. "Or maybe you're already into the kinky stuff?" He added, spiteful._

" _You know me, Nicklaus; I would prefer the handcuffs to a simple leash." Elijah replied, dryly._

" _As for you, you should be kept in a dungeon with chains attached to both your ankles and wrists!" Katerina replied, taking a step toward her brother-in-law, steam coming out of her ears._

" _Keep your calm now, Katerina." Elijah suggested; grabbing her right upper arm, while pulling his wife toward his chest._

" _He's hurting my sister with his bad temperament – He's hurting all of us!" Katerina mumbled back, under clenched teeth._

" _Can someone explain what in hell is going on in here?" Elijah asked, loudly; his sight scattering the group._

" _Elijah?" Carolina managed to raise on both of her legs, all heads suddenly turning to stare at her. "I'm pregnant!" She exclaimed, unceremoniously; while raising her t-shirt to show her small prominent belly._

" _What in the name of God?" Damon exclaimed, in shock; a hand placed around his sore throat._

" _How can this be possible?" Elijah asked, before turning his sight toward his brother. "I presume the baby can't be yours, right?"_

" _You presume? Call me wrong then Elijah ... My biological father, here present, thought that it would help science to experiment on me and my wife!" Klaus spitted, resentful._

" _Is this true?" Elijah turned his sigh at Petrov. "Did you do this?"_

" _It's true." Petrov nodded, lowering his head and sight in shame. "But…" He added, before raising both back up. "You can't even start to comprehend how much this will help create a new supernatural species, Klaus. A new species that will be more powerful than all of us reunited!" He exclaimed, taking a few steps to reach his son's position. "This is my gift to you, son; you'll take my place one day; you'll be their leader."_

" _Are you for real?" Klaus asked, shaking his head. "Do you know how difficult it was for me to even handle myself the past centuries? How I resented who and what I was? From the facts that I came from an adultery relationship and the one that I was rejected all my life by what I thought was my real father?" He added, glancing toward his mother and Mikael. "What do you think this child will think of himself after he'll or she'll learn that he or she came to this world as an experimentation?"_

" _He'll think that she or he is love by both of his parents; like I love both you and Anastassia." Petrov replied, truthful. "The church is already trying to find ways to eliminate all of us. We need to stand strong, Nicklaus!"_

_The loud cry pierced the silence, its coldness falling on their souls; while its intensity wrapped their hearts of a bad omen. They had been too focused on their own drama, to even realize the danger that was lurking near the camp._

_Klaus turned his sight toward the very spot where his wife had stood not even a few minutes ago, finding it empty of her presence._

" _Carolina? Carolina!" The hybrid yelled several times, from the top of his lungs, whiteness suddenly covering his face. "Where is my wife, Elijah?" He questioned, while turning on himself._

" _I don't know… She was standing there, not even a minute ago?" Elijah exclaimed, pulling Katerina near his chest._

" _Scattered the forest … We need to find my daughter in law, now!" Petrov lashed out the order to a few of his men._

" _Oh my God!" Bonnie grabbed Kol's left forearm; a dizzy spell taking her by surprise. "I saw, I saw…" She stammered, nervously._

" _What is it, Bonnie?" Kol questioned; while grabbing her by the waist._

" _What did you saw?" Klaus inquired, rushing by their side._

" _I don't know what it was … I just … I just saw "it" grab Carolina by the hair and throat, and elevate her in the air." Bonnie managed to articulate._

" _Oh my God, Elijah; my sister has been kidnapped!" Katerina exclaimed, suddenly bursting into tears; before burying her head on his chest._

" _It's ok; we'll find her, I promise!" He replied, while rocking her in his arms._

" _I'm sorry..." Alexay surprised them all, by his sudden apparition, while coming out of the bushes, stumbling on his own steps, his arms wrapped around his wounded and bloody chest. "The beast … He took her!" He finally reached Petrov's position, before falling dead in his master's arms._

" _Alexay? Alexay!" Petrov called, several times; before realizing the death of his friend and right arm man._

" _He's here, Ludvig!" Mikael came to the single conclusion, a veil of sadness falling on his face._

" _And he took Carolina!" Maria exclaimed, a right hand rose over her opened mouth; while falling into a state of shock._

" _I got you, I got you!" George reached her in good time to hold her close to his chest._

" _Oh….Carolina? What have I done?" Klaus whispered, a single tear rolling on his left cheek._


	33. The end is near - Part 1

_**wo weeks after Carolina's abduction…** _

" _Kol! I'm talking to you, damn it!" Bonnie yelled, angrily; while strolling through the large corridors of the Vatican, at a few feet behind his own heels._

" _I'm on a war mission; that doesn't mean that I'm deaf, Bonnie." He replied, under clenched teeth; while holding a sward he had picked up on a wall a few minutes ago._

" _This is a suicidal mission; what if we never get out of here alive?" Bonnie tried to give weight to her argument._

" _Then, we won't!" Kol replied, dryly; his sight narrowed on the large doors at the end of the corridor. "But there is still time for you to leave." He added; abruptly coming to a halt, before turning on himself to face the young witch. "Leave, you're not obligated to be here."_

" _I know that I'm not obligated to be here, but as of now, I "need" to be here with you, Kol; if only to revenge my own people, Carolina and my grandmother." Bonnie replied; her sight locked with his fiery gaze._

" _Then, let's go!" He nodded, before unexpectedly grabbing the back of her neck to pull her toward him, bringing her lips in full contact with his._

" _What is this for?" She mouthed the words on top of his parted lips; eyes kept closed, hands wrapped around his wrists._

" _To give you courage." Kol replied, with an additional kiss._

" _Kol, the guards?" Bonnie opened her eyes, taking a glance at the few men that were rushing toward them._

" _Show time, baby!" He turned on himself, raising the sward in the air._

" _In the name of the Vatican and God; lower your sward, now!" One of the guards shouted, raising his own gun in the air._

_Bonnie placed herself beside Kol; both opened hands and palms raised in front of the assailants._

" **Perficiendum potentiam** **resurgunt** _" She closed her eyes, reciting the powerful incantation, before throwing her power toward the guards; while Kol cut the first head off its body._

_**ooOoo** _

" _Hey, you? Hit me again, would you?" Damon spat to the bartender, with an angry glance in his direction._

" _Listen, buddy; I really think you had enough as it is." The bartender suggested, politely._

" _You, human bartender… You really want to argue this with ne, right now?" Damon questioned, with a tick, drunk voice and an arched eyebrow._

" _Human bartender, is there any other kind?" The young lard shrugged, laughter escaping his lips. "See, buddy… You're out of it now, I suggest that you either drink a strong coffee or that you leave the establishment."_

" _I have another suggestion: Me; pulling your heart out of your chest; what do you think of that one?" Damon jumped on a spring from his bar stool, before grabbing the poor bartender by the collar, to pull him toward his chest._

" _Damon! Let him go!" The order came with a sharp voice, before the young vampire could turn to glance at his interlocutor._

" _Stefan? What are you doing here?" Damon asked, suddenly disoriented._

" _I'm trying to hold you back from making a huge mistake." Stefan released Damon's grip on the poor bartender' throat; before pulling his own brother at arm length._

" _This isn't your business, Stefan!" Damon growled, turning to face him; with one finger pointed toward his brother's chest._

" _Well, I'll make it my business then." He nodded, before turning his glance toward the employee of the bar. "You'll turn around to serve other customers and you'll forget about this exchange; am I clear?"_

" _I'll turn around to serve other customers, and I'll forget about this exchange." The victim nodded, agreeably; before walking toward the other side of the bar counter._

" _You're a pain in the ass, you know that? Now I'll need to go somewhere else to get my refill." Damon spat to his brother's face._

" _Maybe you should get sober instead, don't you think so?" Stefan arched an eyebrow, sliding his right hand on his brother's shoulder. "The way you're acting now, won't bring her back, you must know that?"_

" _Go play "fiancé of the year" with Rebecca and leave me alone, would you?" Damon shouted; blue veins of his vampire traits appearing around his eyes. "You think I'm not aware she's not coming back? You think?" He added, angrily; before grabbing a poor man that was passing by them to reach the exit, only to viciously entering his fangs in the victim's neck to suck him dry. His dead body lying on the floor a few minutes later. "Happy now, brother? Now leave me the fuck alone!" He threatened, while pushing the dead body's victim on the floor; before strolling toward the exit on a loud slam of the door._

**_ooOoo_ **

" _What the hell happened? I saw Damon storming out of the bar and I couldn't even hold him to stay with me?" Rebecca shrugged, with opened arms placed on each side of her body; while standing on the sidewalk at a few feet of distance from the bar._

" _Damon happened, that's what happened!" Stefan slammed the door close; pacing back and forth in front of Rebecca. "You have no idea how it's annoying me to not being able to help my own brother, Bekah!"_

" _I know but, listen to me, would you? We did what we could do to help him, Stefan; but … He's on a path of destruction right now… He has lost so much!" Rebekah tried to ease the tension; holding the young vampire on his track while grabbing his left upper arm. "You need to leave him alone … He needs to come back from this, all by himself."_

" _You're probably right." Stefan held his rapid pace, sighing loudly, before passing a nervous hand through his tangled hair. "I'm tired of everything; we … we all went to hell and came back from it… I just want … I mean; is it too much to ask to just find peace and happiness?"_

" _No, no … It's not!" Rebekah cupped his face with both hands, lowering her forehead on his, while closing her eyes. "You should find peace and happiness,_

" _Good! I was hoping you would say that." Stefan confessed, gently pushing her at arm length; before suddenly raising her body on his left shoulder._

" _What the fuck are you doing, Salvatore? Put me down this instant!" Rebecca yelled from the top of her lungs; hitting his back with both closed fists._

" _Oh… Would you stop whining, Bekah?" Stefan rolled his eyes to the night sky, with a slap on her butt, while rushing to reach his jeep parked on the opposite side of the street. "I'm just listening to your suggestion to find my happiness."_

" _And what this has to do with you carrying me on your shoulder and toward the car like a bag of potatoes? Could you tell me that, jerk?" Rebecca asked, under clenched teeth._

" _Well, with one of your bothers on a scavengers hunt to find the other one; I won't get my approval to marry you anytime soon; so I've decided to take things in my own hands." Stefan informed her, a large grin spreading on his manly lips._

" _Whatever that means, enter this in this tick skull of yours: I won't marry you anytime soon, Salvatore!" Rebecca exclaimed, angrily; while reprising her hitting._

" _And that is why I'm taking you to Vegas!" Stefan informed her, a small laughter escaping his lips; and this under her speechless expression. "We're getting married, baby!"_

**_ooOoo_ **

_Damon reached the small alley of the small Italian city, where his 1976 convertible Camaro was waiting for him. He growled loudly when the tip of his right boot hit the tire; rage invading his body, sadness his heart and soul._

" _Damon?" He heard the loud call of his name, before raising his head to face Vittorio._

" _Vittorio?" The young vampire exclaimed, in surprise. "What the fuck are you doing here? And what do you want?"_

" _I think you need to follow me, Damon." Vittorio ordered, gently; while pointing his right hand toward a near parked van._

" _I don't want to go with you, Vittorio… Whoosh from my sight." The vampire waved his left hand; like he would to dismiss a mosquito._

" _If I tell you it's concerning "her" would you come then?" Vittorio questioned; his chin raised._

" _What do you mean it's concerning "her"?" Damon stumbled on his own steps; taking a few more to reach the warlock. "Don't fuck with my brain man!"_

" _Come!" Vittorio proposed, impassive._

**_ooOoo_ **

" _Where do you think that you're going?" George placed himself in front of Maria's path, arms firmly crossed over his bulged chest; blocking and forbidding her to reach the entrance door of their Italian villa._

" _Oh this is getting ridiculous! You're keeping me prisoner against my own will!" Maria replied, angrily; both closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body._

" _I'm keeping you safe under the strict orders of your son; deal with it, Maria!" George replied, his head bent forward._

" _So … The only thing you can do now, George, is taking orders from my son?" Maria spat back._

" _And using my head from time to time to keep my woman safe!" The vampire bodyguard replied, dryly. "I almost lost you; I'm not about losing you one additional time, am I clear?"_

" _Crystal clear!" Maria replied, under clenched teeth._

" _Good! That's what I like to hear from your sweet lips." He nodded, a shy smile spreading on his manly lips._

" _I feel … I feel like I'm helpless and …. And it's driving me crazy!" Maria tried to explain; pacing back and forth on the length of the corridor leading to the front door. "My family … I mean; they are all scattered in different parts of the world; he left, and …"_

" _Carolina needs you, you're certainly not helpless – I can reassure you about that fact." George grabbed both of her shoulders to hold her immobile on her nervous and rapid walking path. "She needs you now more than ever." He added, before softly kissing her forehead._

" _I know … The poor girl is a wreck." Maria agreed; wrapping her hands around George's wrists. "I can't already believe that he …"_

" _Shush! The important thing now is that you're here for her in her time of need." George reassured her, with a brush of his lips on her parted ones._

" _But … I don't know if … I don't know what to do?" Maria confirmed her fears. "I don't know if I am able to do this?"_

" _You are … Just believe in yourself, would you?" George encouraged her._

**_ooOoo_ **

_At midnight, Elijah, who strolled silently in one of the dark alleys of Chicago, held his pace with an abrupt halt. He could feel the annoying presence on his trail, once more … The person who was following him since a day or two was near now, very near. He abruptly turned on himself, vamping in his or her direction; before pushing the intruder on the bricks wall, his left forearm firmly pushed on his or her throat._

" _Katerina!" He exclaimed, in shock; before releasing his firm grip._

" _Who do you think it was?" She replied, slyly; hands placed around her neck to rub her sensitive skin._

" _Fuck woman! I could have easily killed you!" The Original swore, loudly and angrily; a finger raised underneath her nose. "I've specifically told you to stay put in Italy…And what are you doing? You go against my wishes, once more!"_

" _Not to burst your bubble, husband of mine; but I pretty much went against your wishes since the first day I lay my eyes on you!" Katerina spat back; chin raised in the air, in a confrontational gesture._

" _Point taken." Elijah nodded, before raising his head to the full moon; a loud sigh escaping his lips._

" _Did you … I mean, are you on a solid lead of his whereabouts this time?" Katerina questioned, with both closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body._

" _You mean more solid than you following me around like a lost dog?" He replied, with a grin._

" _I swear Elijah, if I put my hands on him after what he did to Carolina, I …" She added, angrily; tears filling her eyes. "She gave him everything; and he gave nothing in return."_

" _He's a troubled soul, Katerina… But he's still my brother." Elijah commented, toneless. "He… He lost a lot the past few weeks; obviously he couldn't handle it…Like he couldn't handle all the heartache he gave your sister."_

" _Do you seriously think it wasn't hard for the rest of us?" Katerina exclaimed, a straight finger pointed toward her chest._

" _Oh baby; I know that it was. I know it too well." Elijah nodded, tears filling his own eyes; before raising his right hand to caress her cheeks, while sweeping a tear away. "Now, considering the bloody, unexplained carnage I saw in the newspapers; Chicago seemed to be his present localisation at first sight… but, he must had left already, and I guess I was, yet again, on a dead lead." He commented; under clenched teeth._

" _Maria contacted me, and …" She paused, closing her eyes._

" _What's happening, Katerina; talk to me?" Elijah cupped her face with both hands; before raising her sight in his._

" _Carolina is at a few hours of giving birth." Katerina informed him, through her sobbing. "It's not normal, Elijah; she was pregnant not even for one month, what will happen to my sister now and to the baby? And I feel so ashamed now to not be by her side."_

" _Shush… I'm here." Elijah pulled his wife in the comfort of his arms; while softly caressing her hair. "May God, be with your sister and my mother in this time of need."_

**_ooOoo_ **

" _Maria, what is happening to me? I'm having contractions… It's way too early, isn't it; after all, it's only been a month or so?" Carolina whispered through heavy breathing, and from her lying position in the large King size bed; while grabbing her mother-in-law' hands._

" _Perhaps, but you're fully dilated and you seem to be full term. And, what's normal after all, my dear? I'm a vampire – You're a human female trying to give birth to a new species' baby; normal is clearly overrated, Carolina." Maria winked at the young woman; in an attempt to make her laugh and relax._

" _Where's the doctor?" Carolina scattered the bedroom_

" **Giovane donna** _you need to relax now_." _Isabella suggested, taking a few steps to approach the bed, while carrying a basket full of clean towels in her hands._

" _Just relax and let Isabella and I do the work. Ok, my sweet girl?" Maria suggested; while softly caressing Carolina short strands._

" _But… But she is not a doctor; I need someone that could deliver my baby." Carolina replied, suddenly agitated._

" _We can't risk calling a doctor… Isabella had delivered a lot of babies in the past, Carolina; you're truly in good hands." Maria replaced the pillow behind her daughter-in-law' back. "She's a midwife."_

" _Are you really?" Carolina turned her head toward the Italian maid, in hope of a confirmation._

"sì! _I even delivered a puppy one day." Isabella confirmed, proudly, while pushing the sheet at the bottom of the bed; before spreading Carolina's legs open. "Now breathe – The work is starting!"_

" _A puppy? Well, that's reassuring!" Carolina swallowed a lump in her throat, turning her sight toward Maria._

" _She's joking!" Maria let a small laughter escape her lips, with a single wink toward the Itialian maid. "Now, you'll need to push soon; I'll be with you all the way."_

" _Where... Where is he, Maria? Did he come back?" Carolina asked, clenching her teeth after another contraction._

_The female patriarch turned her back to grab a towel, closing her eyes for a few seconds, while letting a deep and long sigh escape her parted lips._

" _No; and at the moment you need to focus on delivering your baby more than anything else." Maria suggested, turnign on her heels; before soflty caressing one of Carolina's cheeks._

* * *

_**Back to the present time…** _

" _You, Ludvic Petrov; do you even realize that this… All of this, is happening because of you?!" Klaus snapped, turning on himself to face his biological father, a straight finger pointed in his direction; a deep silence falling on the shoulders of the entire audience._

" _Klaus, we'll find your wife; you have my solemn words. Nothing will come to hurt Carolina." Petrov promised; while rising back on his legs. "Bury Alexay." He gave the toneless order to one of the guards; before seeing his corpse being carried away for his burial._

" _Your solemn words, really? Is this a fucking joke,_ **father** _?" Klaus questioned, angrily; his right fist hitting his bulged chest. "My wife has been abducted by a killing machine with no conscience; you think your words has weight in the balance?"_

_Petrov turned his sight toward Mikael; while swallowing a lump in his throat. He realized that for the first time "ever", his son has truly called him "father", even if the circumstances were less than agreeable._

" _I don't think he's talking to me." Mikael commented, with a single nod and a shy smile addressed to the Russian man._

" _You think seeing Alexay die in my arms, right this second, was a cakewalk, Klaus?" Petrov argued, dryly; taking a few steps to reach the standing position of his son. "My first priority as of now is to keep all of you safe, goddammit!"_

" _What I think doesn't really matter, does it, Petrov?" Klaus replied, harshly; his chin raised, fiery sight narrowed on his father. "What counts for me more than anything is to find Carolina, and bring her back to safety as well. But, you know what I would gladly appreciate at the moment? If you could erase this annoying smirk of your face, and for once in your pathetic life accept to stare at your own reflection in the mirror and realize the kind of fucking asshole that you are! And coming from me, it's a certainty that I can recognize one…The apple if not falling far from the tree. "_

" _Nicklaus!" Maria exclaimed, in shock. "This outburst of yours is understandable, but your lack of discernment and restrain is certainly not!" He scoffed him._

" _Lower your tone, Klaus!" Petrov lashed out, his bulged chest pressed over his son's. "I'm Ludvic Petrov, and no one should address himself so disrespectfully to me, even my own son!"_

" _Klaus, calm yourself down, this is not achieving anything." Elijah whispered near his brother's left ear; holding a firm grip on his left upper arm._

" _Despite of everything that had happened since the first time I've met you; I've always thought that you were a man of honor." Katerina took a few stumbling steps toward the imposing Russian man. "But, I swear Petrov, if something, anything happens to my sister, you'll have to answer to me." She threated, under clenched teeth._

" _Katerina… You know in your guts that I wouldn't lie to you; therefore, I give you my words that your sister and my grandchild will be safe and sound in no time." Petrov reaffirmed, firmly._

" _And how will you achieve that miracle, Petrov?" Bonnie asked, arms crossed over her chest; while reaching the man's standing position. "I'm not even sure that my "magic" could hold him off for a second, to be honest?"_

" _Are all of you forgetting that Carolina is a human?" Rebekah questioned, in shock; while scattering the group. "How can she battle this … This "thing"?"_

" _You truly think I don't know that, sister?" Klaus shrugged, impatient._

" _Carolina has a strength that I rarely saw in a human before her." Maria commented, truthfully. "She'll fight with her claws out to protect her unborn child… Your child, Nicklaus." She turned her fiery sight to her son._

" _She shouldn't have been placed in this position to start with, mother." He replied, darting a cold stare at his biological father._

" _This said; I'm kind of looking forward to being called: Uncle Kol. It has a nice ring to it." The youngest of the Originals grinned._

" _Really?" Bonnie rolled her eyes._

" _God bless this child for having you as his uncle!" Stefan exclaimed, wincing._

" _Oh! Shut the fuck up, Salvatore!" Kol replied to the young vampire._

" _Tell me something father: Was it only possible for Carolina to get pregnant because of her human condition; or is it possible for female vampires as well?" Anastassia, who had remained silent to this point, questioned Ludvic with an inquiring sight; arms crossed over her chest._

" _What?" Damon opened his eyes with stupefaction at Petrov's frowning. "I really, really don't want to be a genitor. My little swimmers have been dead for more than a century now!"_

" _Just… Shut your mouth, Damon." Stefan suggested in a low whisper._

" _Anastassia, Please…" Petrov shook his head, avoiding staring in his daughter's eyes._

" _What? You, obviously, have found a way to make a human girl pregnant from a vampire, but you never offered me the same courtesy?" Anastassia commented, dryly._

" _What? You want kids?" Damon exclaimed, in shock._

" _From a hybrid, there's a big difference! And it has nothing to do with you, daughter; and everything to do with the survival of all our species." Petrov replied, while trying to keep his calm._

" _Can we hold back on this stupid notion of a new species and try to find my wife instead?" Klaus suggested, angrily._

" _It's not a stupid notion, Nicklaus." Petrov replied while shaking his head._

" _Well at the present moment I simply give a fuck!" Klaus replied, slyly._

" _We have no idea where this threat could have taking her?" George wondered out loud; while grabbing Maria's shoulders to give her strength with this difficult ordeal._

" _I would say somewhere where he could trap us for sure?" Mikael commented._

" _He must have taken the trail leading him to the mountains." Katerina suggested as option; her sight narrowed at the horizon. "I feel my sister is there."_

" _I agree; this would be the perfect opportunity for him to lure all of us inside a confined space such as a cavern, to finally trap us." Elijah commented, more._

" _His intention is to lure us in a confined space, with Carolina as the perfect bait, and then to simply get rid of us, I suppose?" Rebekah added._

" _It's exactly what this killing machine wants!" Kol agreed with his sister's say._

" _And for this rescue mission to work, we need to keep a united front." Petrov suggested, his sight locked with his son; who soon growled and started to rush toward the trail leading to the said mountains._

* * *

" _Mikael?" Maria yelled, while trying to keep up with his rapid walking pace through the forest. "Could you just hold your pace for God sake, I want to talk to you?"_

" _Maria, stay behind with George; it's better for your protection." Mikael suggested, dryly; while keeping his rapid pace toward the mountains._

" _He's keeping an eye on the girls at the moment." She replied, while accelerating her walking steps._

" _I bet that arrangement is not going too well for him?" He let a grin spread on his lips, with a small laughter escaping his throat. "For once I feel for the man!"_

" _Mikael! I asked you to stop!" Maria ordered, while grabbing his left upper arm to turn his body around to face her. "I remember!" She announced, unceremoniously; leaving both of them in an intense silence, sights locked for a few seconds._

" _Since when… Since when did you start remembering the past?" Mikael asked, swallowing a lump in his throat; before grabbing his ex-wife right forearm to pull her in a setback position, behind a large tree._

" _Couple of days ago – Give or take." The patriarch woman replied, with much truthfulness in her voice; nervously rubbing her hands together._

" _I see." Mikael replied, with a single nod. "We should reprise our walk." He added, toneless; before retracing his steps toward the forest trail._

" _Mikael?" Maria called his name, once more; before seeing him stop on his track. "Why? I mean … Why having me lost my memory for so many years? Wasn't it a worse punishment for me to remember my betrayal toward you?"_

" _It had nothing to do with you, Esther." Mikael finally responded with a shallow sigh; while turning on himself to face her. "And everything to do with me. The fact that I made you lose your memory; gave me the chance to forgive myself for losing my wife." He added, tears filling his eyes; before abruptly turning on his heels, while leaving her speechless on the spot._

* * *

_**A few centuries ago…** _

" _ **When did it start? Did you intend to tell me one day or were you going to keep it a secret for the rest of your life?" Yngve (Mikael) asked his wife, dropping the leather belt of his tunic on the straw bed; before passing a nervous hand through his tangled hair.**_

_**He had come back from a hunting trip; after being gone from the village for a few days – And it was now more than time for him to face the music.** _

" _ **I … I don't know what you're talking about?" Ingrid (Maria/Esther) stammered through the answer she gave to her husband.**_

" _ **Your love-affair with Ludvic; and the bastard child you're carrying in your womb." He spat, angrily.**_

_**Ingrid froze all her movements, holding her breath in her lungs; while closing her eyes tightly. Yngve was not a stupid man, he had sensed that something has changed the past few weeks.** _

" _ **Answer me, woman?" Yngve turned on himself to glance in her direction.**_

" _ **Please, lower your voice the boys are sleeping, you will wake them up." She whispered, folding a cloth in her hands.**_

" _ **Will you use our boys to cover your infidelity; woman?" Yngve grabbed her left upper arm; before abruptly turning her body to face him.**_

" _ **This is ludicrous, Yngve… I don't even know what to answer to that?" She busted to his face; redness covering her cheeks.**_

" _ **This …" He lowered his hand on the small roundness of her bully. "This child is not mine; it's his; have the decency to at least say the truth to my face; and I'll consider forgiving you and keeping your bastard in our household."**_

" _ **How… I mean, how did you know that I was pregnant?" Ingrid asked, speechless.**_

" _ **You sincerely think, woman, that I would not recognized the physical signs?" Yngve shook his head in disbelief. "I've been married to you long enough to realize the changes in you."**_

_**Ingrid kept her sight locked with her husband's; tears filling her eyes, remorse her heart and soul. How could she love both men at the same time for different reasons? Would that single fact make of her a whore?** _

" _ **Yngve, Yngve…" Several loud calls came from outside, cutting their exchange short; omen of a prominent danger.**_

" _ **What is all this commotion?" He questioned more to himself than his own wife.**_

" _ **You should go and see." Ingrid suggested, pushing her husband toward the door.**_

" _ **What is all this commotion?" The said called asked, once more; pushing the door of the hut open to face one of the villagers.**_

" _ **Yngve! This … This monster has killed everyone on his lethal path…And then, set the fire…" The man tried to explain, out of breaths, and almost incoherently, before falling in his arms. "The village… Up the mountains… Villagers… They are all dead!" He added, pointing toward the said mountains, where a large black cloud of ashes seemed to fill the dark blackness of the sky.**_

" _ **What and who are you talking about?" Yngve asked; before noticing that the man was now unconscious in his arms. "You!" He then ordered one man. "Come and bring him to his hut and family!"**_

" _ **Mama… Mama…" Young Elijah come rushing out of the hut, before jumping into his mother's arms.**_

" _ **What is it Elijah?" Ingrid kneeled in front of her young son; cupping his son's face with both hands.**_

" _ **It's Finn, mama; he's not in the hut? He left!" The young boy informed his mother.**_

" _ **What do you mean your brother is not in the hut and has left?" Yngve inquired, grabbing Elijah's left upper arm to turn the young boy to face him. "Maybe you're mistaking?"**_

" _ **No! I'm not papa… He's gone!" Elijah shook his head.**_

" _ **Oh my God! No, it can't be possible… Yngve… Look?" Ingrid exclaimed, while pointing toward the horizon; when and where Ludvic appeared while carrying Finn's body in his arms, for the second time in row in the time space of a few months.**_

" _ **Stay here!" Yngve ordered young Elijah before rushing toward Ludvic; Ingrid running by his side.**_

" _ **I'm so sorry…" The imposing werewolf man commented, while carefully lowering Finn's body on the ground. "I found him like this… I … I found him dead near the mountains." He confessed, out of breaths; with tears filling his eyes.**_

" _ **No, no, no!" Ingrid kneeled by her eldest son's side; bringing his death body near her chest, tears rolling fluently on her face.**_

" _ **Who did this?" Yngve lashed out; hitting Ludvic's chest with his closed fists. "Is it you?"**_

" _ **Are you crazy, Yngve?" Ludvic replied, in shock. "I love your sons like they were mine! I saved Finn from drowning not even a few months ago!"**_

" _ **And I guess that's why you had to knock up my wife, to have one of your own?" Yngve busted, angrily.**_

" _ **What? Ingrid, what is he talking about?" Ludvic turned his sight toward a very still and very silent Ingrid.**_

" _ **I don't care about both of your man prides at the moment, I just lost my eldest son." She replied, toneless, and in a low whisper; while keeping Finn's body near her heart.**_

" _ **She's carrying your bastard; are you happy now?" Yngve confirmed, dryly. "I want you and your people to leave the premises tonight." He ordered.**_

" _ **No!" Ludvic replied, chin raised. "It's suicidal, Yngve! I can't leave now, not when this beast is heading toward your village; let me help you my friend!"**_

" _ **Mark my words wolf-man that one day I'll find a way to battle you; I'll find a way to make myself a supernatural entity too; and then… You'll be a dead man!" Yngve spat in the werewolf' face.**_

" _ **Yngve!" The call cut the silence of the night like a sharpened dagger. "Let him help – if he wants to help; we need him to save our people." Ingrid ordered her husband. "Honor the death of your son, for God sake!"**_

" _ **This is on your shoulders, woman!" Yngve replied, a finger pointed toward his wife; kneeling beside his son to raise the young boy's dead boy in his arms; before taking his first steps back toward the village.**_

" _ **I want you gone the moment this "monster" will leave us alone." Ingrid addressed herself to Ludvic.**_

" _ **Ingrid, you can't … I mean, I didn't know about the child, our child… You can't ask me to leave, now?" Ludvic stammered, through his fogged mind.**_

" _ **It's not a request, it's an order, Ludvic!" She replied, toneless; before following her husband's steps toward the village.**_

* * *

_The giant man dragged an unconscious Carolina through a path of mud, dead leaves, pieces of woods, in the middle of the forest, before reaching the mountains. He finally entered the cavern, dropping her body on one corner of their present abode; while forcefully pushing the young female human on the rock wall._

_Carolina let a loud moan of pain escape her lips, slowly regaining a sense of reality and consciousness, while bringing both hands instinctively on her belly._

" _What do you want? Why am I here?" She questioned, with a shallow breath; straightening her back on the hard rock._

_The large imposing mix of supernatural entity and machine turned his sight toward her, a loud growl escaping his throat._

" _You-are-a-mean-to-an-end." He simply responded, in a robotic voice; his tone and eyes as cold as the ice._

_Carolina swallowed a lump in her throat, nausea hitting her hard. It did not take her long to put two and two together. She felt a strong rage against the Catholic Church who had decided to play God and erase all species from the world as she knew it now; but also pity, for having turned this man into this killer machine; while using him for their own selfish reason. It did not take the mind of Einstein to figure out that this monster had kidnapped her to lure The Originals inside the cavern to kill them all; and by doing so, the Catholic Church would get rid of all the lines of vampires underneath them._

" _Please, I beg of you to reconsider all of this… I'm carrying a baby." She tried to reason with him; raising her long sleeves t-shirt to show her prominent belly._

_The large, tall, and imposing man lowered his sight on Carolina's belly, a veil covering his sight, and a glimpse of shock and stupefaction passing, for a few seconds, over his facial traits. A bright glow started illuminating her lower body. What was going on? Carolina wondered, in shock; it seemed her baby had a power of her or his own to protect her._

" _All-species-need-to-die." He recited, once more, taking a step back away from her._

_The glow finally disappeared and the human machine approached his female victim; his sight narrowed on each of her movements, before grabbing a hand full of Carolina's hair to drag her with him, into a narrowed corridor of the cavern. They walked for quite a long time, before reaching a large cliff; with a small platform placed at the opposite position of the large gulf._

" _Please, let me go … You're hurting me, you asshole!" Carolina yelled, out of breaths._

_The monster let an additional loud growl escape his throats and lips, before raising the female victim in his arms; only to run and jump on the small platform that almost broke on his weight alone. He lowered Carolina's body on the cavern ground, before forcefully grabbing her chin to raise her sight in his._

" _You-stay-here." He ordered, in his toneless robotic voice; but she had once again lost consciousness._

* * *

_So, my dear uncle_ **Lulu** _; what's the plan?" Kol inquired, reaching the group at the foot of the mountain._

" _You mean besides trying to stay alive; son?" Mikael joked, lightly. "What? Too soon to make jokes, I suppose?" The patriarch lowered his sight under the few pairs of eyes latching daggers at him._

" _His plan is to lure all of us inside to eliminate all of the Originals, and at the same time our lines of vampires underneath us." Petrov informed, toneless. "He's been programmed by the church to achieve one single goal – Killing us all!"_

" _What about Carolina? What will he do to my wife?" Klaus inquired, a loud sigh of impatience escaping his parted lips. "I swear if he had laid one single finger on her; I'll find a way to kill him with my bare hands!" He added, with closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _I have difficulty believing that one man - or machine … Call him whatever you want …" Elijah commented, whit a pause; while pacing back and forth. "As powerful as he can be, could eliminate all of us at the same time?"_

" _I saw him eliminate an entire village in a matter of seconds, numerous carcasses of villagers lying on the ground, their bloody intestines out of their abdomens. It wasn't a pretty sight – And I've seen my share of massacre in my long life." Petrov commented. "And granted it was centuries ago; before the church could transform him into this beast. I don't know if you even remember the night, Elijah?" He questioned, with a single glance in direction of the Original._

" _When Finn died? It was … It was him?" Elijah finally realized, his mind traveling centuries before this present date._

" _Yes, it was Augustine." Petrov confirmed._

" _Who was Finn?" Katerina approached her husband, slowly sliding her cold fingers into his opened right palm._

" _Finn was my eldest son." Maria replied, a veil of sadness covering her eyes._

" _What happened to him?" Katerina asked, concerned._

" _This killing machine killed him; that is what happened." Mikael replied, angrily; before turning his back at the group._

" _It was many centuries ago." Ludvic commented, still emotional. "But, even then – That man was a lethal threat to many villages."_

" _Can we just stop this walk into memory lane? Could we just focus at saving Carolina?" Klaus suggested, under clenched teeth._

" _You're right, son; let's refocus." Petrov nodded, obedient for once. "I'll send a few of my guards inside these caverns, and when they'll find them, we'll follow inside. As for the women, you'll stay put outside with Vitto… Where the fuck is Vittorio this time?" The patriarch scattered the group._

" _The hell we'll stay outside!" Anastassia exclaimed, in fury. "We are here; and we intend to stay here and help you!"_

" _My sister is with that monster, no way in hell will I leave her without trying to save her!" Katerina spat._

" _I'm here, my king!" The warlock waved his hand in the air, suddenly reappearing in front of their sights, under the roll of eyes of Ludvic. "While all of you were playing alphas in a game of Indians and cowboys, Vittorio performed a locator spell."_

" _I should have thought of that myself!" Bonnie winced at her own fault._

" _You were otherwise busy with all these men." Vittorio winked at the witch. "I forgive you!"_

" _It's so thoughtful of you." Bonnie winced._

" _And…Where is Carolina?" Klaus bent his bulged chest near Vittorio's._

" _Ok, sugar… Just back away for a second, would you?" Vittorio pushed a straight finger on Klaus's muscular chest. "She's located in a cavern leading to a precipice."_

" _Can you show my guards?" Petrov asked the warlock._

" _I'll even lead the way."_ _Vittorio proposed, with a hand gesture._

* * *

Majority of Petrov's guards were now lying in a bath of blood, their bodies mutilated by either having their hearts pulled out of their chests, or their heads cut off of their shoulders. The beast was still standing on the platform; Carolina crawled into a ball, still unconscious.

"What if she's dead?" Klaus couldn't even handle the dark emotions holding his mind captive at the present moment.

"She's just unconscious." Elijah gave comfort to his brother; his right hand placed on Klaus's left shoulder.

"Fuck! I guess we'll have to battle him ourselves!" Petrov spat, angrily; before turning his head toward Mikael.

"Wasn't it what it was leading to since the beginning?" Mikael shrugged, fatalist.

"If we'll need; we'll fight him ourselves." Damon suggested, with Stefan and George agreeing by a nod.

"What if I manage to escalate the rock wall? If Bonnie is able to free my path I could reach Carolina in no time." Kol suggested.

"I could easily create a small avalanche of rocks, to clear the path and help Kol escalate the north facade of the cavern?" Bonnie nodded, in agreement.

"Do it! Please save my sister?" Katerina begged, tears filling her eyes.

"If we scream at him to capture his attention; perhaps he'll turned his head toward us and Bonnie will be able to do her magic thing?" Anastassia proposed, with hope.

"Let's do it!" Maria nodded, her sight narrowed on the said Augustine. "I have a revenge to take on him!"

* * *

Plan "B" has fallen miserably! Bonnie had managed to free a clear path; with Kol escalating the north face of the cavern; but the beast had finally noticed his approach and started throwing small pieces of rocks at him;

" _Klaus, Look at the platform!" Kol yelled, nodding toward the said spot; where the giant man was standing, at a few feet of distance of Carolina. "She's waking up."_

" _Carolina!" Klaus yelled, making her raise her head at the loud call._

" _Klaus, is that you?" She turned on herself, scattering the penumbra in the cavern before finally seeing his dark silhouette. "I'm fine; we're fine!" She added, lowering both hands on her belly._

" _Carolina…_ **сестра** _(sister), we are here; we will… We will get you out of this mess!" Katerina yelled to her sister, standing at a few feet of distance from the cliff; with tears filling her eyes._

" _Get back here, I want you to keep a setback position at all times, do you hear me?" Elijah ordered his wife, dryly. "I won't lose you, Katerina; I couldn't bear the thought!"_

_In an unexpected move; the beast grabbed Carolina by her hair; placing her at a feet of distance from the enormous abyss; while her loud cries filled the space of the cavern, in the promise of a bad omen._

" _What's the game plan now, Uncle "Lulu"?" Kol yelled to Petrov._

" _Carolina!" Klaus yelled; before kneeling on the ground in preparation to jump on the platform to save his wife._

" _Ludvic!" Mikael yelled to the leader, who was standing on the other side of the cliff; while addressing him a single nod in direction of Augustine. "It's the only way." He added, his eyes kept on the monster._

_In true fact, the only way to save Carolina was to take simultaneous jumps toward the opposite side of the cliff to unbalance their enemy, and save both the life of the young female human and the baby she was carrying – The only legacy of this new supernatural world that Ludvic has been trying to create to save their asses. Unfortunately for the both of them; this would mean jumping into their deaths, heads first into the cliff, even if their gesture would seem heroic at first glance._

" _I know, Mikael, I know …" Ludvic nodded his head in agreement, a shy smile spreading on his lips. "For our children, Mikael… This is for our children." The Russian man said, humbly; tears filling his eyes._

" _It was an honor to have met you, my friend." Mikael saluted, cordially. "But you're still a fucking pain in the ass, even at a few seconds of both of our deaths."_

" _I'll say: Right back at you, Mikaelson." Petrov replied, a small laughter escaping his lips. "Are you ready?"_

" _This is for our children?" Mikael repeated to reassure himself of making the right move._

" _Yes, for our children, my dear friend." Ludvic replied, with yet, a single nod._

" _What are they doing?" Elijah questioned, taking a step forward; his sight fixated on both of the patriarch men. "No, no, no … Kol?" He shouted, his voice echoing in the cavern's walls._

" _Hey? I'm doing my fucking damn best to reach her – Give me two seconds!" Kol growled, escalating the other side of the cliff to reach the exact location where Augustine was pushing her toward the immense hole._

" _Don't do it … This is simply suicidal!" Klaus shouted to both his step and real biological dads. "I'll do it!"_

" _Papa, no, no … Don't do it; please don't do it!" Anastassia begged her father to hold his suicidal mission to save Carolina; while Damon pulled the female vampire toward his chest, with a firm hand and arm placed around her waist._

" _Klaus, it's the only way. I loved and still love your mother very much and I love you too, son; just… Please, if you need to believe in something, just believe in that." Ludvic begged the hybrid to believe his words; before turning his sight to rapidly glance at his daughter. "I love you too, sweetheart...Take care of my daughter." He added to Damon._

" _Elijah … Be the man, take care of your sister and brother for me, would you; but most of all, take care of your mother." Mikael addressed his last words to the eldest, before turning his sight toward Ludvic. "Ready?"_

_No one really had the time to react; before both men vamped and jumped on the platform, while each managing to grab an arm of the imposing man; pushing Carolina back on the firm ground, before making the beast loose his balance in a matter of seconds; all three falling into the darkness of the precipice._

" _No!" The loud and gloomy cries of both Elijah and Klaus echoed in the crater in simultaneous timing; leaving the cavern into a dreary silence a few seconds later._

" _Papa… Papa…" Anastassia whispered, crawling to reach the edge of the cliff._

" _No, no, no, no …" Damon tried to grab the redhead ankle to hold her immobile, but without succeeding._

_What followed left them all speechless and motionless. In the time space of a few seconds, Augustine's right arm and hand came back to life from the gulf; before grabbing Anastassia's by the throat to pull her back with him in the long descent to hell._

" _No, no … No; fuck no!" Damon yelled, from the top of his lungs; reaching the edge of the cliff; with Stefan close on his heels. "Anastassia, no – Don't leave me!" He yelled, from the top of his lungs._

" _Damon, no … You need to step back now." Stefan suggested, while grabbing his brother's upper arms._

" _What just happened?" Rebekah exclaimed, crawling, herself, toward the edge; a hand suddenly pushed on her parted lips at the horrific sight, with tears rolling down on her face._

" _This can't be happening… This simply can't be happening." Maria shook her head in denial; tucked in George's arms._

" _Anastassia…Baby?" Vittorio slowly advanced toward the edge himself; before lowering his sight into the pit. "Baby, you can't be gone!" He shook his head, looking at the dead body of his female friend._

" _Elijah!" Katerina rushed toward her husband, jumping into the comfort of his arms; arms wrapped around his neck. "Are you ok?!"_

" _I'm fine, my sweet love, are you?" Elijah cupped his wife's face, searching for reinsurance._

" _Yes, yes … It's awful, but … My sister is alive!" She stammered, through her sobbing._

" _Hey ho… I know this sucks big time… But, I'm still hanging, literally, in here!" Kol yelled, from the top of his lungs; one hand clinching to the rock; while the other was grabbing Carolina's left forearm to forbid her to fall._

" _Hang in there, I'm coming!" Klaus shouted, before vamping to jump on the platform. "Carolina, are you ok?" He grabbed Carolina's from his brother's grip; before kneeling by her side. "Are either you or the baby hurt?" He inquired, cupping her face; scrutinizing any sings of injuries._

" _I'm fine, and so happy to see you." Carolina confessed, glued to his chest, with tears rolling on her cheeks._

" _Oh Love!" Klaus sighed loudly; eyes closed. "I thought I had lost you for good this time around." He softly caressed her hair to calm her down, dropping a few kisses on the top of her head._

" _Mikael and your father … What they did to save me were both selfless and heroic… I … I did not deserve this?" She shook her head, in shock._

" _Shush… You deserve this and way more; you're so courageous, fearless, and strong." Klaus commented, with strong emotions blocking the sound of his voice in his throat. "That's why I need …"_

" _Shush! I'm strong because of you; you are my rock, Klaus!" She pushed a finger on his parted lips. "If I had stayed strong it's because of you; you showed me how to fight for the ones I love."_

" _You deserve so much more than me; so much more than all the heartache you had to endure since I entered your life, you deserve to be happy and loved the right way, Carolina." The hybrid came to the single conclusion, slowly pushing her at arm length; before softly kissing her forehead one last time._

" _What do you mean? No Klaus, no …" Carolina shook her head, realizing the hiding message behind his cryptic words._

_He finally rose on his legs; before turning his sight toward his brother Elijah._

" _Take care of her, would you – Because, obviously, I can't." He confessed, sadly; before jumping to the opposite side of the cliff, vamping toward the exit in the time space of a few seconds._

" _Nicklaus… Nicklaus… Don't you dare, you hear me?" Elijah yelled; but it was too late; the hybrid had left … And this time for good._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take good note: Only one chapter left to this saga.


	34. The end is near - Part 2

" _If I tell you it's concerning "her" would you come then?" Vittorio questioned; his chin raised._

" _What do you mean it's concerning "her"?" Damon stumbled on his own feet; taking a few steps to reach the warlock. "Don't fuck with my brain man!"_

" _Come!" Vittorio proposed, impassive._

_Damon reluctantly followed the warlock inside of a van; before being drove to an unknown recluse hostel-pub, thirty minutes out of the nearest city or village._

_They both descended a few cement stairs leading to the entrance, before taking a narrowed corridor toward an imposing wooden door._

" _That's enough theatrical for one day, warlock!" The century Vampire growled; grabbing Vittorio's shirt collar, before pushing the poor lard on the brick wall behind his back. "Where are you bringing me? And most of all: why are you bringing me here?" Damon spat, angrily; his face at a near inch of the warlock's._

" _Now, now darling… If you could only calm down and let me bring you inside this pub; you'll soon understand why I brought you here." Vittorio managed to explained; under a shortness of breaths._

" _Fine!" Damon pushed the warlock in front of him; without much consideration._

_Vittorio pushed the large door, entering inside the empty pub; the vampire very closed on his heels._

" _Now what - bleached head? Why are you setting all this circus?" Damon questioned, angrily; turning a few times on himself to scatter the empty place. "I'm telling you, Vittorio…" He took a step forward to reach the warlock's standing position, who swallowed a lump in his throat in fear. "I'm this close of snapping your head off your shoulders, pulling your heart out of your chest, or hanging your balls on the chandelier – What will it be?"_

" _Just … Just a question before my upcoming death? The last option for you, is this a form of flirting?" Vittorio tried to relax the atmosphere._

" _That's it, earthworm!" Damon forcefully grabbed the warlock by both upper arms, before alleviating him in the air._

" _Let him go, Damon!" The order cut the air like a sword._

_Damon froze all his movements, dropping the warlock back on his feet; a sense of déjà vu filling his entire being at the sound of the female voice. He slowly raised his head, having the feeling that his past human heart was beating like a drum in his chest; even if it was technically impossible. And then … He saw her! Anastassia was standing up the stairs, which probably lead to a few bedrooms._

" _Anastassia?" The name escaped his trembling lips; a veil of tears blurring his sight. "What did you do? Why did you create this hallucination – Do you have a sick perversion to make me suffer?" Damon turned his head back toward the warlock, while snapping angrily at him._

" _It's not what you think…" Vittorio shook his head, vigorously; not being able to finish his explanation. "This is real, Damon!"_

" _Damon; I'm real." The redhead Russian girl reassured the vampire with a single sentence._

" _How?" Damon stood speechless, both arms falling flat on each side of his body._

" _I'll let you explain to him." Vittorio nodded toward his female friend. "Keep your boyfriend on a leash, would you?" He mocked, gently; turning on himself to reach the door._

" _I intend to." Anastassia responded, with a shy smile; watching her friend closing the door behind his back._

_They stood there in silence for a few minutes, Damon at the bottom of the stairs, not being able to grasp the reality of her being alive._

" _How is this even possible?" He asked, once more._

_Anastassia slowly descended the stairs; her red high heels hitting the wood in rhythmic tempo._

" _Vittorio …" The bombshell let the name escape her parted lips. "He brought me back to life using black magic." She explained, reaching his level. "He was able to reach and carry my body out of the cavern and did some sort of dark spell to bring me back to life; with the help of witches affiliated to the Vatican."_

_Damon slowly raised his right shaking hand to caress the soft outline of her cheeks._

" _Oh baby, you're alive!" He let a smile spread on his manly lips; before pulling the redhead in the comfort of his arms; squeezing her so hard over his chest, that she let a small cry escape her lisp. "Oh my God; I can't… I can't believe it … I can't believe that you're alive." He stammered, nervously; caressing and sliding his fingers through her long red curls._

" _Oh I've missed you so much, Damon!" Anastassia let the admission slip out of her lips; both hands caressing the base of his neck._

" _You're real… You are so freaking real!" He exclaimed, joyfully; before coming off of their embrace to cup her face with both hands._

" _I'm real… And you… You did not shave for how many centuries?" She questioned, small laughter escaping her throat; both hands caressing the scruff on his chin and cheeks. "And you smell like bourbon all over!"_

" _Nothing had mattered since you've … I mean, since you left me." Damon let the true admission escape his mind and lips. "I … I fell in love with you; Anastassia… I couldn't imagine my life without you in it."_

" _Oh Damon …" She shook her head, lowering her head while suddenly losing her smile. "I love you too, but …"_

" _What? No, no … There's no "but" anymore, you hear me?" He grabbed her chin, raising her head to drown his sight in hers._

" _There was a loophole – A price to pay to bring me back, Damon; a huge one." The Russian woman admitted; tears filling her eyes._

" _What kind of price to pay?" Damon inquired, swallowing a lump in his dry throat._

" _I'm human." Anastassia admitted, in a single sigh._

" _What?" The young vampire exclaimed, frowning. "But … How? And why?"_

" _It was simply the loophole attached to the black magic Vittorio had to use to bring me back." The redhead explained._

" _What if … What if I turn you? What if you become a vampire again?" Damon suggested, hopeful; grabbing both of her hands in his._

" _No, Damon… If you do such thing; you'll kill me – I can't turn back again; it's the real price to pay to have me back in the living." She informed him, toneless._

" _Your father? Mikael Mikaelson? Maybe Vittorio had tried to bring them back to life also? Maybe they'll find a way to go back as what they were?" Damon tried to find a slim chance of hope._

" _No." Anastassia shook her head, once more; a tear rolling on her cheeks. "Vittorio told me he couldn't bring them back; because he wasn't able to reach their bodies."_

" _Are you sure?" Damon asked again; whipping her tears off her cheeks._

" _Yes." She nodded. "That's why I waited a little time before asking Vittorio to bring you back to me. I'm not the "Anastassia" that you used to know; and maybe..." She shrugged, biting into her bottom lip._

" _And maybe … Nothing!" Damon reprimanded her. "I don't give a fuck if you're human, vampire or an alien, Anastassia."_

" _But, Damon … I'll age, and … You won't be able to look at me the same way." The Russian woman replied, pleading her case._

" _I will always look at you the same way, Anastassia; because I love you." Damon replied, honestly; slowly bending his head to brush her parted lips of a kiss. "We'll find a way, I promise … We'll find a way." He brought her back in his arms; softly rocking her body out of her dark thoughts. "Now, let's get out of this place and find a decent way for me to make love to you all night long." He suggested, a huge grin spreading on his lips._

" _Can I tie you to the bed?" Anastassia asked, kinkily and with a single wink._

" _Still?" Damon raised both eyebrows in surprise._

" _I'm human, but still myself, Damon." She whispered, near his left ear; softly biting into his earlobe._

" _Oh baby, you can tie me to anything you want." He replied, small laughter escaping his throat, before crashing his lips on hers._

* * *

_**Vatican; Rome - Italy…** _

_Kol pushed open the two brass doors, entering the huge parlor room of the East Wing of the Vatican, with Bonnie close on his heels. A few priests and the Cardinal Gorski promptly raised on their legs, from their comfortable sitting positions on leather armchairs; consternation and fear showing on all of their faces._

" _In the name of the Vatican and God – Lower your weapons now or die!" A few guards placed themselves in front of the Cardinal, with the obvious order to guard his life, while a few others who were standing near the group of religious men, rushed toward the Original._

_Kol raised his sword in the air, letting a loud growl out of his throat, before cutting a few additional heads from their bodies; his own face being splashed all over by fresh blood. In the meantime, Bonnie would elevate a few more in the air; before pushing their bodies on the opposite wall, with the help of her magic._

_When all was taking care of, a pile a headless bodies at their feet; Kol slowly advanced toward the Cardinal, his fiery sight narrowed on the pitiful man._

" _I give you two choices; I'll kill your priests or I'll kill you? What would a man of the Vatican, a man of God would respond?" Kol narrowed his eyes on his victim; who stood proudly in front of him, with his chin raised._

" _You're a vampire, an abomination – a monster!" Cardinal Gorski spat to Kol's face._

" _I think that part has already been established by you!" Bonnie made her way among the dead bodies. "You tracked us like animals; who are you to decide whose good or not? Who are you to decide if the supernatural species should be allowed on this earth?" She spat to the man's face._

" _Cardinal Gorski, what is this young woman talking about?" One of the eldest of the priests demanded, mostly outraged._

" _Calm down my child; the tracking down was absolutely not against the witches or warlocks; or you for a matter of fact!" The Cardinal responded, dryly. "She obviously don't know what she is talking about." He finally addressed the priest._

" _Oh no? And killing my grandmother was a terrible mistake too, I suppose? Simply because she was against all plans the Vatican had to get rid of the magic community?" Bonnie replied; closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body._

" _Is this all true?" Another priest asked, with much concerns in his tone._

" _Just shut up all of you!" The Cardinal warned the entire assembly; pointing a forbidden finger toward each of the priests. "You have no idea to what length I went to protect the Vatican from these … These monsters! All of them: vampires, hybrids, werewolves, witches, warlocks!" He exclaimed, angrily._

" _I guess you've just chosen their faith then?" Kol arched an eyebrow; staring at the group of priests._

" _What? Of course I want to live – I'm not an idiot – God would want me to live, for the sake of the Vatican!" The pitiful man replied, disdainfully looking at the group of priests. "Kill them if necessary; if this means I'll stay alive, they'll die for the cause."_

" _Wrong answer." Kol exclaimed, Cardinal Gorski's head rolling on the marble floor a second later; a trail of blood reaching the priests feet. "I hope this will be a lesson for all of you present here today." The Original added, toneless. "This man tracked us like animals in the mere intention to kill all of our species."_

_The group of priests remained silent, staring at each other; sadness, horror and stupefaction plastered on all of their faces._

" _We can live in peace; if you allowed us to be part of this world." Bonnie added, tears filling her eyes._

_One of the priests, the eldest, suddenly advanced toward their own standing positions._

" _We weren't aware of this conspiracy made against your supernatural world." The middle age man declared, truthfully. "God put all creatures on this earth for a purpose. Even the devil himself was one of prettiest angel on his wing." He added. "This said, if we promised to you to stop all retaliation against your species; you need to promise to me, to all of us, that you'll keep the Vatican safe in all cost?"_

_Kol and Bonnie stared at each other for a few seconds; finally nodding at their shared silent decision. The man seemed like an honorable one, with only one word of honor._

" _I promise that the Vatican will be safe from our species as of now; if you're keeping your word." Kol agreed._

" _There is enough blood on both my hands and yours to last a century." The priest concluded, with a single nod._

* * *

" _You seem quite eager?" Kol grinned; watching Bonnie jiggling herself out of her panties, from his sitting position at the foot of the bed._

_They have rented a bedroom in a luxurious hotel in the city of Rome; where a set of silk bed sheets and platted gold fixtures in the master suite bathroom silk had been waiting for them._

' _What can I say; seeing you decapitate our enemies can trigger my sexual appetite." Bonnie pushed her panties off her feet, unhooking her bra; before lowering her right hand to slowly rub his hard and long shaft through the fabric of his boxer. "Get rid of them, now; so I can ride you…" She ordered; whispering the words near his right ear. "Hard … Very hard!"_

" _Yes, madam!" Kol hurried to remove his boxer; grabbing her waist to bring her in full contact with his bulged chest. "There, you can ride me now." He mouthed the words on her parted lips; a huge smile plastered on his face._

" _You seem quite eager?" She teased him, gently; striding him, before slowly lowering her wet entrance on his engorged member._

" _Oh Bonnie, you drive me crazy!" He whispered, with anticipation and pleasure; placing himself at her entrance, before feeling her narrowed walls engulf him to the depths of herself. "Fuck!" He growled, head bend toward the back; while keeping her rapid pace in rhythmic pushes and pulls._

" _Shush…Just enjoy the moment." She whispered herself, softly nibbling on his earlobe; a loud moan escaping her parted lips when his fingers started to pinch her erected nipples._

" _I intend to, darling." He replied; crashing his lips on hers, while accelerating their tempo._

* * *

" _Mm… darling…" Kol Mikaelson mumbled, in his semi-state of consciousness; before frantically opening his eyes, noticing that both of his wrists were restrained by handcuffs to the iron bed. "What the fuck; Bonnie?" He exclaimed, with wide opened eyes. "Tell me this is one of your many kinky moments?" He demanded reassurance._

_The young witch was standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed over her chest; wicked smile raising both corners of her red lips._

" _I wish I could, baby; but this is more "goodbye" actually. I have a train to take, which will bring me to the airport; and then … Well, I'll discover the world, like I always wanted." Bonnie replied, before grabbing the backpack left at her feet. "How do we say it in Italian? Oh yes: arriverderci!" She waved her fingers at the Original, before blowing a kiss at his intention. "I'll never forget you, Kol Mikaelson!" She added, before turning on her heels, to leave the bedroom suite._

" _Bonnie Bennett, come back here, now!" Kol spat, pulling on both of his wrists; without being able to free himself from the handcuffs. "Baby, baby … Please? You're scared and afraid of what you're feeling for me; because it's too strong for you to handle." He begged and tried to explain at the same time. "Come on; don't do this, please? I fell in love with you … And deep down you know that you have fell in love with me also. We can do this darling, I swear we can."_

_Bonnie held her hand on the handle for a few seconds, eyes closed; while taking a long and deep breath into her lungs. He was right! She was scared as hell of her new found feelings for him … She was scared of what that could mean … And she would gladly prefer to leave him behind, like the coward that she was, than face her own fear of loving him._

" _Bye Kol!" She gave him a goodbye for the last time, tears rolling on her cheeks; the door being closed behind her back._

" _For fuck sake, come back here, Bonnie Bennett!" He yelled, through the closed door. "I'll scatter the entire planet if I have to, but I swear that I'll find you; and will bring you back to Italy with me… Mark my words for it, darling!"_

* * *

**U.S.A. / Las Vegas City**

" _Stop whining and get your ass out of the damn car!" Stefan ordered, sliding his head through the opened passenger window of the rented 1979 convertible Mustang._

" _Are you crazy? If I step a foot out of this relic, people will know that we rent it…On purpose!" Rebekah exclaimed; her arms firmly crossed over her chest._

" _Of course I rent this car on purpose!" Stefan replied; mostly annoyed by her princess attitude. "It's a classic car for God sake, Bekah!" He added, promptly pulling the lock up, before opening the passenger door to pull out his female companion. "Now step out and look!"_

_The female Original stepped out, before placing her right hand as a visor on her forehead, so as not to dazzle._

" _Elvis Chapel!" She read out loud the colorful sign, with bright light flashing around it; being mostly horrified by it. "That's it Salvatore; you can't ask me to get married to you inside this … This … Impostor of a chapel, and by a pastor dressed as Elvis!" She turned on her heels, before rushing the opposite side, down the sidewalk._

" _What? But it's the perfect spot and the only available at this hour, Rebekah! Now, come back here – This chapel is perfectly legit; we'll be married by law in less than fifteen minutes; if you stop acting like a shrew for a change." He ran after her; passerby starting to notice their couple quarrel._

" _Did you say that I'm acting like a shrew - A SHREW, REALLY?" Rebekah turned on herself to face her interlocutor; closed fists firmly placed on each side of her hips. "Are you kidding me? Did you take a look at me lately? At the outrageous wedding dress I'm wearing?" She pointed two straight fingers toward the white - two sizes too large for her – short lace dress._

" _You're acting foolishly, you look beautiful in it. You would wear a garbage bag that I would still find you attractive." Stefan pulled the reluctant Original in his arms, both hands firmly placed on each side of her waist; his head bended to softly kiss her left cheek._

" _Beautiful? It's two sizes up of my own size, for God sake!" Rebekah replied, while trying to squirm herself away from his strong grip. "And cowboy boots?"_

" _Yes, but with the leather belt we've put around your waist; the size is hardly noticeable – And the brown color of the belt goes perfectly well with the boots." Stefan shrugged, unapologetically. "And it's the best I could do in such short notice. Now come!" He grabbed Rebekah's left hand, pulling her on his heels toward the entrance of the chapel._

" _Stefan … You really want to do this?" Rebekah asked, anxiously, taking an abrupt halt at the end of the red aisle; her sight glancing at the atrocious Graceland décor, and the pastor dressed as Elvis. Adding to the horrific picture, a young couple reciting their vows over the "You're always on my mind" song._

" _Don't you?" Stefan questioned, fingers still interlaced with hers; serious stare straight in front of him._

" _I… Is this us?" Rebekah questioned, out loud._

" _You're right, you're right … What was I thinking?" Stefan shook his head, while releasing her hand; consternation plastered on his face. "Let's go … Let's leave now, we should go back to Italy." He pulled her toward the exit door._

" _What? But I thought … I mean; aren't we supposed to get married?" Rebekah hold her ground; holding his own rush to a halt._

" _Yes, but … You deserve so much better than a marriage in Las Vegas chapel, with a pastor dressed as Elvis Presley." Stefan replied. "You probably want the big wedding with the nine yards of flowers and a dress fit for a princess. And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm probably not suited to be your husband."_

" _What, no, why would you think and say that?" Rebekah exclaimed, with strong shakes of her head._

" _Well, isn't it the truth?" Stefan lowered his head, to hide both his amusement and prank._

" _No, no … I don't care about fancy wedding, dress and all the shebang. I just want …" Rebekah grabbed both of Stefan's hands._

" _Yes, Rebekah …_ _ **What do you truly want**_ _?" Stefan raised his head; drowning his fiery sight in hers. "Can you tell me? Can you be truthful for once?"_

" _I … I just want… I just want to be married to you, here, now… I don't care about the chapel, the pastor dressed as Elvis, or the dress that is two sizes too large for me." She stammered, nervously. "All I care is being married to you: Stefan Salvatore, forever."_

_A large grin appeared on Stefan's lips, a glow of happiness spreading on his facial traits, a bright light filling the iris of his eyes._

" _Rebekah Mikaelson, it took you long enough to prove me that you truly wanted to be married to me as much as I wanted to be married to you." He cupped her face with both hands. "I guess my plan worked?"_

" _What do you mean? You tricked me?" Rebekah questioned; mouth wide opened. "Why would you do that?" She hit his left upper arm with her closed fist._

" _Don't be mad, baby; please don't be mad?" Stefan kissed her parted lips. "I needed to test you, to be certain; I needed to sense that we had both grown up to what we were supposed to be as a couple." He tried to express his true intention. "There is no more running away from your part, no more tossing you on the side of the route from my part. Now, there's only two souls who desperately want to be joined together for eternity. I want you to belong to me, and I want to belong to you, Bekah."_

" _Since when did you become such a romantic, Salvatore?" Rebekah questioned; a small laughter escaping her lips, with tears rolling down on her cheeks._

" _Since a beautiful blonde vampire bombshell, with a stubborn head on her shoulders, entered my life." He replied; laughter escaping his own throat. "Let's get out of here, and find you a nice dress and a decent way to get married."_

" _No, no … I want to do this!" Rebekah pulled him back at the end of the aisle, just at the mere moment the young couple were leaving the premises, large smiles plastered on their faces._

" _Are you sure?" Stefan questioned, with an arched eyebrow._

" _Yes!" Rebekah turned her head to lock her sight with his. "I love you forever and with all my heart, Stefan Salvatore."_

" _I love you too, Rebekah Mikaelson, forever and with all my heart." He replied, now finally confident of their shared feelings for each other._

* * *

_**Italy, two years later …** _

" _Christopher!" Carolina shouted her son's name; both closed fists placed on each side of her hips. "I've told you to not bother the tourists!"_

_They had this daily routine now of walking along the beach to pick-up a few shells along the way._

" _But mummy… I was just saying hello to the nice lady." The blonde, curly hair little boy pouted, adorably; crossing his arms in front of his chest as a gesture of rebellion. So much of the stubbornness of his father in him, Carolina thought, letting a long sigh escape her lips._

" _Oh, he's no bother at all!" The lady who had placed a few beach towels on the sand responded; her hand placed on her forehead as a visor. "Your son is adorable and so polite, how old is he?"_

_The lethal question … Once more! How was she supposed to explain to the ordinary humans that her son was technically two years old – but talked, walked and thought like a young boy of five? How was she supposed to explain that her son had been created in a supernatural way, by a powerful hybrid man named Ludvic Petrov; with the help of magic?_

" _He's five years old." Carolina replied, a large forced smile spreading on her lips. "Now, come here, Christopher; leave the nice lady and her family alone, would you."_

" _Well, he's a good looking young boy." The mother of what seemed to be twins responded to her, politely._

" _Thank you." Christopher nodded, smiling; rushing toward his mother, before sliding his little fingers in Carolina's._

_They walked, side by side, hand by hand, on the beach for a few minutes; before she would kneel in front of her son to talk to him._

" _Did you show your sparkling eyes to the lady?" Carolina inquired, calmly._

" _No mommy; you've asked me to never show my sparkling eyes to anyone but you, Aunty Katerina, Uncle Elijah, grandmother…" The young boy started enumerating the long list on his little fingers._

" _It's OK, sweetheart; I know the list as well as you do." Carolina replied; trying to hold her laughter. "You're a special boy, Christopher; with …"_

" _With special powers, you've told me." The young boy nodded, cutting her sentence short. "Like the power of Captain America!" He raised his closed fists as a sign of special power and honor._

" _Something like that, yes." She raised her right hand to place it over her mouth; to hide her growing need to burst into laughter._

" _Oh look mummy; it is grandma and Uncle George on the boardwalk, can I run to say hello – Please, please?" Christopher exclaimed, enthusiastically, jumping on both joined foot; while pointing toward the boardwalk._

" _OK, OK … Yes; but just take your sandals in your hands, and don't forget to …" Carolina gave her strict instructions, but the young boy was already rushing to reach the boardwalk in a rapid run._

_Carolina shook her head, raising herself on both legs, a smile plastered on her face. He was his father's son for sure: impulsive and free like the wind; she thought to herself. She carried her own sandals in her left hand, her right raising the length of her sundress skirt, before turning on herself to face Klaus Mikaelson in the flesh!_

_Her eyes opened widely, a small cry escaping her parted lips; with her legs giving up on her. The sandals firstly hit the sands, before she fell herself falling on her knees, her right hand raised over her chest._

_He had finally came back to her!_

* * *

_Maria buried her eyes in the immensity of the blue sea and beach laying in front of her sight._

" _He's a fine looking young boy." George commented, watching Christopher ran on the beach, toward the boardwalk; while sliding his hands upward on Maria's back to gently squeeze her shoulders in a gentle massage._

" _He surely is. I can see so much of his father and grandfather in him." Maria agreed. "Oh that feels good, George!" She moaned with pleasure; lowering her head on his bulged chest. "You have magic hands." She closed her eyes, letting the truth escape her lips._

" _I thought you already knew that fact about me, after last night?" He teased, mockingly; his lips trailing a line of fire down on the left side of her neck._

" _George!" She protested, vehemently; before reopening her eyes. "Keep your voice down, someone could see or hear you."_

" _Who? The tourists?" George replied, rolling his eyes to the blue sky. "You think I give a fuck about the tourists?"_

" _And your language!" She scolded him; hitting his chest with a closed fist._

" _Do not tell me you're still feeling ashamed of us?" George exclaimed, in shock._

" _Ashamed of us? No! Why would you think something like that for heaven sake?" Maria commented, mostly outraged. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."_

" _Well, you're avoiding all public display of affection." George shrugged, dumbfounded. "Because if this was the case, Maria; I wouldn't make much sense to me."_

" _After two years or courtship; you've never noticed that I was a reserved woman?" Maria questioned, with amazement._

" _It simply thought you haven't fully accepted us." He shrugged._

" _I think the cry you got out of my lips last night made it perfectly clear to my children that I have accepted you!" Maria replied, a deep color of red appearing on both of her cheeks._

" _Grandma Maria, Uncle George!" Christopher yelled, reaching their standing positions on the boardwalk._

" _Hey champion!" George raised the young boy in his arms, to give him a kiss._

" _Did you see me run? I'm faster now." The young boy announced, proudly; before being dropped back on his two feet._

" _I certainly did!" George gave him a high five._

" _Grandma?" Christopher pulled on Maria's skirt to get her attention._

" _Yes, my sweet boy; what is it?" Maria lowered her head to glance at her grandson._

" _Who's the man with mummy?" He questioned, pointing, and with his sight narrowed at the horizon._

" _Oh my God, George!" Maria wrapped her fingers around the bodyguard's left wrist. "Look, it's Klaus! He's finally back!"_

" _Who's that man, grandma?" Christopher continued to ask; his head turning from George to Maria, alternatively. "I have an idea of who he could be, but I am not sure?"_

" _I'll find the others." George nodded; blessing her forehead of a sweet kiss before turning on his heels to run toward their Italian mansion._

" _Grandma Maria?" Christopher called, in a louder voice. "Are you listening to me?"_

" _Oh sweet, sweet boy. Of course, I'm listening to you." Maria knelled in front of her grandson; both hands cupping the young boy's face._

" _Is the man who running after mummy, my father?" Christopher asked, his blue eyes buried in Maria's._

" _Oh dear God; how could you even know that?" Maria questioned, mostly to herself._

" _I don't know… I just do." Christopher shrugged, fatalistic._

" _Yes, he is." She confirmed, caressing his cheeks. "He's your father, his name is Nicklaus Mikaelson."_

" _He seems strong and tall." The young boy has noticed; and came to the conclusion that it would make him a hero. "Will I ever be as strong and tall as him?" He wondered, tilting his head._

" _Oh …" Maria lowered her head, tears filling her eyes. "I believe you'll even be stronger and taller."_

" _Good!" Christopher let a smile spread on his face. "Will I meet him later?"_

" _Most likely." Maria nodded, wiping the tears from her face._

" _Why are you crying, Grandmother?" The young boy questioned, with wondering eyes._

" _It's … It's because I'm happy to see your father again." Maria explained, in simpler words._

" _I understand." Christopher concluded; with much thinking from his part. "Can I go play now?"_

" _As long as I can see you from where I'm standing in the boardwalk, yes." Maria replied, much emotions filling her heart and soul._

* * *

_Elijah Mikaelson entered his bedroom suite; his sight falling on his wife, Katerina; who was sitting on an armchair, set of needles knit in her hands._

" _Knitting, really; Katerina?" Elijah questioned, teasingly; raising his head to the ceiling, both hands placed on each side of his tensed body, a nerve twitching his left cheek and jaw. God that woman had the talent to make it out of its hinges._

" _You forbade me to continue to scatter the world to find my sister's husband, therefore I'm knitting." Katerina responded, dryly; her hands busy at the said task._

" _You call that, knitting?" Elijah approached her sitting position; arms crossed over his chest, right hand raising in front of his mouth to hold his laughter. "What is it supposed to be, exactly?"_

" _Isn't it obvious?" Katerina raised her head and sight to her husband. "It's a sweater for Christopher!" She replied, raising the atrocious mesh wool._

" _To a blind it would be obvious, perhaps?" The Original tilted his head toward the back, bursting into a loud laughter._

" _Why are you laughing?" She jumped on her joined feet; steam coming out of her ears, closed fists placed on each side of her hips._

" _Well, beautiful … It's Italy, it's a hot country; I just don't think Christopher will have the chance to wear this piece of art." Elijah tried to lower the blow._

" _It's colder in winter even in Italy, and this is cotton wool." Katerina tried to explain. "I used to knit sweaters for Carolina when she was younger, back in Russia."_

" _Poor girl; my heart goes to her." Elijah mumbled to himself._

" _What did you just say?" Katerina crossed her arms in front of her chest; her fiery sight narrowed on her husband._

" _I meant; she was obviously very lucky to have you in her life, to take care of her." Elijah lied through his teeth; reaching his wife's standing position, before blessing her forehead of a sweet kiss. "Like I am the luckiest man to have you in my life."_

" _If you're trying to lower my temper by offering sex to me, the answer is no!" Katerina pushed herself at arm length._

" _I'm sorry?" Elijah raised an eyebrow at her sudden outburst. "Why would I need to beg to have sex with my wife?" He questioned, shrugging. "And what are you wearing on top of your pair of short anyway? Is it some kind of new fashion statement from your part?"_

"пояс целомудрия!" _She replied in Russian, with a raised chin; and a huge grin spreading on her voluminous lips._

" _A chastity belt?" Elijah repeated, in shock. "Tell me you're joking? Tell me you're joking now, Katerina?" He shook his head, dumbfounded._

" _Until you grant me the authorization to restart looking for your brother; neither you nor I will have sex with each other, Elijah." She explained, proud of herself._

" _Obviously!" Elijah exclaimed; furiously. "What in hell, Katerina? Give me the damn key, now?"_

" _No." She shook her head. "You've always used sex to lower my temper, I grant you that I'm obviously not immune to your charm; so it's the only way that I found for me to stand my ground."_

" _Where would a sane woman find a chastity belt in this second millennium?" Elijah questioned; grabbing two hands full of his tick dark hair. "Not that I'm staring at a sane one at the present moment!"_

" _I was an escort once, remember? I have my ways of finding kinky "things"." She shrugged, unapologetically. "And you would be surprised what you could find on the internet; especially on the erotic sites."_

" _This is going too damn far, Katerina Mikaelson." Elijah spat to his wife's face; a straight finger pointed toward her chest. "I understand your need to protect your sister, because I always felt the same with my own siblings; I understand that you have been feeling helpless the past two years, believe me I felt my share of disappointments. But, Katerina; you can't change the outcome in life – You can't change the fact that my brother will come back when he'll decide to come back, and not before that time!"_

" _Stop yelling at me; I'm not deaf!" The brunette vampire spat back at him. "You won't have the key until you'll grant me the authorization to look for your brother." She stood on her ground, once more. "My sister cries herself to sleep every night. Yes, she is showing a wide smile in the days, and she is also a wonderful mother to Christopher; but I'm her sister and I know better, I know her heart ache for his return, Elijah."_

" _You think I don't know that, Katerina?" Elijah lowered his upper body and head at a near inch of his wife's. "How stupid to you think I am?" He questioned her. "But, we also have our own marriage on the line. We can't continue to live in the shadow of my brother, for God sake."_

" _You're not satisfied by me?" Katerina questioned herself, all colors leaving her cheeks._

" _What? No, no … Why would you even think something like that?" Elijah shook his head, in shock. "It's because I want always more of you. I'll never be satiated, never!" He added, in a cry. "You infiltrated my heart, my body and soul … You're like this decease to me!"_

_Katerina startled, all of her movements frozen on spot. A decease? She felt the first tears rolling on her cheeks, before turning on her heels to rush toward the suite bathroom before slamming the door to his face._

" _Katerina, open the door, please?" Elijah begged of her, while turning the handle in all directions. She had obviously locked the door. "I meant it in the best of ways possible. I can't get enough of you, beautiful. You're everything to me… Everything…" He lowered his forehead on the panel, a loud sigh escaping his lips._

* * *

_Elijah startled, his eyelids slowly reopening through his semi-state of sleep; while slowly regaining his consciousness. He must have drifted into the unconsciousness an hour ago; now awakening at the subtle creaking of the bathroom door._

_And then he saw her … Stepping across the threshold, like a divine apparition._

" _I fell asleep." He informed his wife, sitting on the armchair; softly rubbing his eyelids._

" _I'm sorry; Elijah." She confessed, while approaching his sitting position._

" _What are you sorry for, beautiful?" The Originals asked; suddenly regaining full use of his sight, while glancing at the sexy lingerie that his wife was wearing. "It's me who should be ashamed, not you." He shook his head. "I expressed my deepest thoughts in a wrong way; and while using the wrong words."_

" _I know; I realized that; and I got rid of the chastity belt." Katerina informed him; sensually biting into her red bottom lip, both hands playing with the two ribbons holding her full breasts inside the sheer fabric of her sexy teddy._

" _I can see that." He responded, sliding his fiery sight on the length of her wife's body. "Is it new?"_

" _Something that I've picked up when I bought the chastity belt." Katerina shrugged, while playing her erotic game; before straddling his legs to sit on his lap. "You'll have to forgive me though…" She lowered her full breasts in full contact with his bulged chest._

" _I don't see why?" Elijah whispered; enrolling a strand of her long curls around his index finger. "I prefer this to the ugly chastity belt." He added, with one of his most seductive smiles; his left hand sliding on the small of her back._

" _I forgot to buy the set of panties that goes with the teddy." She informed him, teasingly nibbling on his left earlobe. "I hope you don't mind?"_

_Elijah let a loud growl escape his throat; promptly raising Katerina's body in his arms, while rushing in his vampire speed toward the King size bed to lay himself in top of his wife's trembling body; his hands ripping the silk fabric before his mouth could find the sweet deliverance of her erected nipples, his right hand finding the growing wetness between her legs._

" _Oh Elijah!" She let a loud cry escape her lips; both hands buried in the softness of his hair._

" _I love you, Katerina… I love you so much. Please, forget about my brother; forget about the world… Just think of us both." He begged of her, raising his head to bury his sight in his wife's._

" _I love you too… More than life itself." She replied; before feeling his manly lips crash on her parted ones._

* * *

_**Prior to all these events…** _

_He hadn't changed much if it wasn't for his tick beard, and his longer curly hair, that he was now wearing shoulder length._

" _Oh my God Klaus… You're here, you're really here." She managed to let the words escape her trembling lips._

" _Carolina…" Her name escaped the Original's lips, his fiery sight taking all of her, all at once. He dropped his backpack on the sand; falling on his knees to face her, a few seconds later._

" _It's you …" She raised her right hand, barely brushing the skin of his left cheek, before pulling it back near her chest; redness filling both of her cheeks._

" _I understand." He swallowed a lump in his throat; under the tightness of his jaw. "If I was you, I couldn't touch me either."_

" _What? No, it's not … It's not what you think; I'm just overwhelmed by your presence." The blonde shook her head; cascade of blond curls falling on her shoulders. "It's been two long years, Klaus…" She added, tremors in her voice. "Can you blame me?"_

" _No, I can't blame you, Carolina." The hybrid shook his head himself; slowly raising his right hand to grab one of her long curls. "You've grown your hair?" He commented, a shy smile spreading on his lips, while enrolling a stand around his fingers. "I like it." He added, before lowering his hand without adding any more comment._

_Carolina held her breath; range of shivers spreading in her spine._

" _The blonde boy …" He asked, emotionally; knowing by instinct that she would know how to answer this unformulated question._

" _You're wondering about the blonde boy that you saw by my side? Yes, he's your son." Carolina nodded, slowly raising her sight in his._

" _What … What is his name?" Klaus inquired._

" _Please, don't be mad at me." Carolina begged for his indulgence._

" _Carolina, I could never be mad at you…Whatever you've chosen to name our son, it'll be fine by me." He nodded, a shy smile raising the delicious curves of his full lips. "I lost any say in my son's life, the day I left you in the middle of your pregnancy."_

" _It wasn't the middle of my pregnancy." She shook her head._

" _What do you mean?" Klaus inquired, frowning._

" _The pregnancy was not what we could call a regular pregnancy. I gave birth soon after… Soon, after you had left." She explained._

" _Who…" He raised an eyebrow._

" _Your mother… I mean; she gave birth to our son." Carolina informed him._

" _I thought it would be her." Klaus nodded, expressionless._

" _It's Christopher …" She started enumerating, waiting for his reaction. "Christopher Ludvic Mikael Mikaelson."_

" _I see." Klaus responded after a few minutes of silence; his right hand raised over his chest._

" _Please say something? Are you mad at me for choosing these middle names?" Carolina nervously rubbed her hands together._

" _No, Carolina… I understand why you did it." The Original responded, truthfully. "Both of his grandfathers are Christopher's heritage."_

" _Yes, and they are your heritage too." Carolina grabbed both of his hands in hers. "I know why you left, Klaus; I know how much darkness, ugliness and pain has filled your heart over the centuries. And after they both died, you simply…Lost it." She added, bringing his hands to her lips to kiss them; with much emotion filling her voice. "You were lost inside of yourself; you needed to rebuild your self-esteem brick by brick."_

" _Don't pity me, Carolina; I don't deserve it." Klaus shook his head; tears rolling fluently on his cheeks. "I … I left you, once again. How could … How could you even look at me?" He lowered his head and sight, in shamefulness._

" _Because…" Carolina grabbed his bearded chin to raise his head, sight now locked back in hers. "I must be crazy, I know; but I can't help myself." She shook her head. "I would have … I would have waited a thousand years for you to come back, only to see your face one more time."_

" _Why would you … Why would you wait for a man like me?" He inquired, an indescribable pain filling his chest._

" _Because... I have deep feelings of love for you, Nicklaus Mikaelson. It is as simple as that." Carolina replied, a single tear rolling on her left cheek. "But…" She lowered her head. "I would understand that after such a long time; you've probably met …"_

" _No, Carolina!" The cry escaped his lips; his fingers grabbing her chin to raise her sight back in his. "The past two years, my hands have never touched another woman, my heart never has beaten once for anyone but you." He confessed, under their hold of breaths. "Why is he so developed for his age?"_

" _We don't know. After your father's death, there was no way of knowing." She shook her head. "He's just growing up faster than other boys of his age. But, he's perfectly healthy. I can at least reassure you of that fact."_

" _Any signs of supernatural manifestations?" Klaus wondered, out loud._

" _Many. We are taking it one day at a time." Carolina nodded. "Please, tell me that you won't leave again? Please, tell me that you'll meet him? He needs you in his life, Klaus."_

" _Is it … Is it wise, Carolina?" He shrugged, apologetically. "Do I have anything left in me to give to that young boy?"_

" _You have plenty to give; if it was otherwise you wouldn't be kneeling in front of me." Carolina protested._

" _Do I have anything left in me to give to you, then?" He asked the relevant question; colors leaving Carolina's face all at once._

" _If you don't … I'll give you time with your son; and we'll part ways, while finding a common ground to raise him together." She raised back on her legs; her right hand placed in front of her lips to hold her sobbing. "We'll get a divorce and … I'm sorry, I need to leave." She concluded, raising the skirt of her sundress, before turning on her heels to run away from him; her feet sinking into the sand, while her vision blurred more and more by the tears filling her eyes._

" _Carolina, wait, please … Carolina!" Klaus yelled, rushing to grab her arm; but oddly enough even her normal speed was faster than his?_

* * *

_Carolina reached a small cove; away from the tourists' eyes. She lowered her speed, lowering her forehead on a large rock; tears still rolling on her cheeks, down her neck._

" _Why didn't you tell me that you were a vampire now?" She heard the hoarsely voice ask her. Obviously, he had catch up with her._

" _Does it change anything?" She shrugged, sniffling the rest of her sobbing; before turning on herself to face her husband._

" _What happened?" Klaus asked, hands placed on each side of his hips._

" _I lost a lot of blood at the birth of our son." She started her tale. "Your mother gave me her blood to reinforce my immune system; but … I was still weak and near death."_

" _My mother turned you?" Klaus concluded, more than ask._

" _Yes." She nodded; nervously rubbing her hands together. "Please, don't be mad at her. I know you were against it; but Christopher needed a mother, and …"_

" _I'm not mad, Love." The hybrid shook his head, compassionate. "I'm just surprised; you seem the same, that's all."_

" _I'm the same. Except for drinking blood every day." Carolina shrugged, a shy smile spreading on her lips._

" _I'm so sorry, Carolina – All of this is my fault." Klaus shook his head, repentant; pacing back and forth in front of his wife. "If I hadn't searched for a wife in Russia; you would still be human as we speak."_

" _Human perhaps… But loveless." She replied, truthful._

" _Loving me gave you heartache and sufferance." The hybrid replied, spiteful at life, but mostly at himself._

" _Loving you gave me courage, understanding, compassion, forgiveness/" Carolina started enumerating on her right hand. "But, most of all, loving you gave me Christopher. Loving you is like breathing to me, Klaus." Carolina replied, truthful._

" _I abused you, both physically and mentally, I abandoned you more than once; how can you even look at me." Klaus turned on himself to face her; cupping the delicate features of her face in both of his hands._

" _I'm looking at the man that I love more than life itself, right now." Carolina replied; strong emotions filling her heart and soul. "You did abused me both physically and mentally, you did abandoned me more than once; but I still love you. I wasn't able to leave, because my heart belonged to you, Klaus. How hard it is for you to understand?" She confessed, grabbing both of his wrists. "Love is forgiveness, and forgive you, I did and I do."_

" _Carolina…" Klaus pronounced his wife's name in a low whisper; softly caressing the roundness of her cheeks. "I don't deserve you, sweetness." He shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks and jaw. "I don't deserve your love."_

" _You deserve way more." She whispered, raising herself on her tip toes to brush his lips of a kiss._

_Klaus startled at the intimate contact of her warm lips; his eyes kept opened. It has been years of celibate; and the subtle brush of her lips and breasts on his t-shirt set his body in fire._

" _Do you love me?" Carolina mouthed the question on his parted lips; fear of being disappointed infiltrating her heart._

" _Oh, Love…More than life itself; do you even have to ask?" Klaus responded, softly nibbling on her bottom lip._

" _Then show me." Carolina begged of him. "Show me the love you have in your heart for me."_

_The hybrid let a loud growl escape his lips, both of his hands sliding on the delicious curves of his wife's body, before grabbing her buttocks to raise the blonde bombshell in his arms; her legs now wrapped around his waist, while her body was being pushed on a large rock, his lips passionately crashing on hers._

_Carolina moaned loudly, while sliding her hands on his bulged chest; finding the hem of his t-shirt to raise it above his head._

" _I need to touch your skin, it has been too long." She explained, her hands wrapping behind his neck._

" _I won't be happy until my lips will bless every inch of your body, Love." Klaus replied, pushing the straps of her dress down, before his lips could bless the curve of her neck, valley of her breasts; with his fingers softly pinching her erected nipples._

" _Klaus!" She let the loud cry slip her parted lips; being carried and lay down on the sand._

" _Until my hand has felt the heat in the deepness of your core." He added, sensually; slowly sliding his right hand between her legs to raise the fabric of her summer dress up on her thighs and hips. His finger finally meeting with her panties, before parting the soft fabric to feel her wetness. "Oh Love, it's been way too long!" He whispered, his lips meeting hers; while his fingers make her cry with pleasure._

* * *

_Klaus Mikaelson, and his wife Carolina walked in silence, hand in hand along the beach; with the single sound of waves hitting the large rocks. Their love filling all the words that could have been spoken._

" _Oh dear…" Carolina raised her head and sight, her left hand placed as a visor on her forehead, while noticing the rapid approach of their family members._

" _On a scale of one to ten; how pissed is my brother at me?" Klaus questioned, swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _A good twenty." Carolina replied, squeezing his hand to grant him comfort and reassurance._

" _Your sister?" Klaus turned his head, taking a quick glance at his wife and love of his life._

" _I'm not sure there's a number high enough to describe how mad Katerina is at you, to be truthful." The blonde vampire replied, with a single shrug._

" _Well, that's reassuring." The hybrid commented, a sour smile plastered on his face._

" _But they love you with all their hearts… Well, my sister is getting there, but still… don't forget that fact, would you?" Carolina encouraged him, with a sincere smile._

" _I'll try for you, Love." Klaus promised, raising her right hand to place a kiss on her wrist._

" _I don't know what could hold me back for crashing my fist into your face, Nicklaus?!" Elijah spat, bare feet, while approaching their standing positions; a straight finger pointed toward the hybrid's chest._

" _You would have all the right in the world; Elijah." Klaus replied, raising both opened palms in the air. "Do it; I won't fight you back."_

" _Oh, no, no, no … You will fight back! You'll act like a man for once in your life!" The Originals circled his own brother; the hems of his trousers pants brushing the sand. "Two fucking years, Nicklaus; I scattered the entire planet to find you; where were you for God sake?"_

" _Amazon." Klaus responded, truthfully._

" _Amazon?" Elijah repeated, in shock; with both opened arms. Probably the only place he hasn't look for him – Bastard! "You got to be kidding me?" He passed a rapid hand through his tick dark hair. "You son of a bitch!"_

" _Mother would love to hear you say that." Klaus commented, half serious-half mocker._

" _Just shut-up, you hear me!" Elijah pointed the same finger underneath his brother's nose. "Two years, Nicklaus; two years of trying to find you to bring you back to your wife and son."_

" _I needed time, brother; can you at least acknowledge that fact?" Klaus asked for his brother's indulgence._

_Elijah stared at his brother for a few seconds, before reprising his pacing around his prey; a loud growl escaping his throat._

" _I forgave him; maybe you could find within yourself the strength to do the same, Elijah?" Carolina suggested. "I will always be so grateful for your presence in my son's life."_

" _He's my nephew, Carolina; it was my duty as his uncle to take care of him in the absence of his father; at least the few first years of his life." Elijah replied; still pissed as hell._

" _Thank you, Elijah; for being what I was never being able to be, before this day." Klaus thanked his brother, truthfully._

" _Before this day, really?" Elijah inquired, with a raised eyebrow. "Or until your next escape?"_

" _No, I'm not running away anymore; Elijah." Klaus shook his head. "I came back to the ones I love, I came back to my wife and son, forever."_

" _Well, you better tell the truth this time, Klaus; or I swear…" Elijah mumbled, under clenched teeth; closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _Duly noted, brother." Klaus nodded, a shy smile raising both corners of his lips._

" _I'm going to kill him!" Katerina rushed toward her brother-in-law, taking great strides to reach the small group; right hand raised in the air to prepare her blow._

" _Katerina, no!" Elijah intercepted his wife; enrolling a strong arm around her waist to pull her back. "Calm down, my love; please?" He whispered near her right ear._

" _Calm down? I'll be calm the minute my hand will slap this asshole on his face." Katerina spat to Klaus's face; fists and feet kicking in all directions._

" _Though, I truly like when you're this passionate in our bedroom; this is not the time to cause more trouble." Elijah whispered, more._

" _Let her go, Elijah; I deserve to hear what your wife has to say to my face." Klaus ordered his brother._

" _As you wish!" Elijah released his wife; who rushed to her brother-in-law' standing position._

" _Katerina, please, don't do this … I forgave him!" Carolina tried to retain her sister, with a grip on her right forearm; but without succeeding._

" _You're a jerk, Klaus Mikaelson! You left my sister and her son alone for two tucking years!" Katerina spat to his face; chin raised, closed fists hitting his bulged chest, repeatedly._

" _You're right; I'm a fucking jerk, Katerina." Klaus agreed, closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _What? Since when do you agree with what I have to say to you?" Katerina stopped; amazement plastered on her face._

" _Since it's the truth." Klaus responded. "I've been an asshole to my wife, son, mother, sister, brothers, to you even…"_

" _To me even?" Katerina crossed her arms in front of her chest, sight narrowed on the hybrid._

" _Well, it's not like we were in the best of terms, would you say?" Klaus commented; wincing._

" _I would say." Katerina replied, with a loud sigh escaping her red lips._

" _I'm truly sorry… I wanted your sister to be happy; and … In my mind, the only way she could reach that happiness was without me, and without all the heartache I could cause her and my son." Klaus tried to explain his motives._

" _I see." The brunette vampire replied, her full lips kept in a thin line._

" _I'm not expecting you to forgive me anytime soon, but…" Klaus tried to explain more._

" _You got that right; it will take me a long time, if not forever." Katerina pointed a finger at him._

" _Fair enough." The hybrid agreed, with a single nod; while Carolina and Elijah exchanged a smile._

" _Nicklaus Mikaelson, I'm coming for you; asshole!" Rebekah yelled; while approaching all of their standing positions, near the ocean._

" _Oh for God sake Elijah; why did you forget to mention that Bekah was here?" Klaus growled at his brother._

" _And forbid myself the joy to see the surprise on your face, never brother!" Elijah winked, enjoying his revenge; a large grin appearing on his lips._

" _What's wrong with you?" Rebekah struck her brother, with both closed fists. "Why did you do leave Carolina?"_

" _Rebekah, for God sake, if you could stop hitting me; I could perhaps explain myself." Klaus tried to defend himself, to the best of his capacity; while not losing his temper._

" _Then talk!" Rebekah ordered him; both closed fists now placed on each side of her waist._

" _You could have waited for me, Bekah?" Stefan Salvatore spat, angrily and out of breaths; while rushing to reach her side. "As for you, you're really an asshole, you know that?" He pointed his finger toward his best friend._

" _So, I've heard about a thousand times, today." Klaus shook his head; calmly. "With the addition of pointed fingers to my chest."_

" _Well, let's make it a thousand and one then." Stefan added; angrily. "What were you even thinking?"_

" _I wasn't, Salvatore; that was my problem to start with." Klaus shrugged, apologetically. "Why are you so bothered by my actions, anyway?"_

" _Because, I'm part of the family now,_ **brother** _!" Stefan grinned, raising both of his eyebrows in a comical way._

" _Brother?" Klaus narrowed his sight on the young vampire. "Elijah - Explanation, now?" He turned his head to glance at his biological sibling._

" _Stefan wedded our sister, in Vegas." Elijah shrugged, huge smirk raising both corners of his manly lips._

" _You got that right?" Stefan nodded, proudly; trying to hide his amusement. "Elvis married us."_

" _Vegas and Elvis?" Klaus rapidly glanced in direction of his sister; biting into his bottom lip to retain his laughter. "Was she drugged and tied to the bench when she said yes to you?"_

" _Very funny, Kaus; I'm still waiting for your explanation you know?" Rebekah narrowed her fiery sight on her brother; obviously not amused by their exchange of jokes._

" _Well, welcome to this family, Salvatore." Klaus shook his friend's hand. "I couldn't have chosen a better man to tame my sister." He added, with a wink._

" _You're such a jerk!" Rebekah exclaimed, shaking her head._

" _I appreciate the vote of confidence, coming from you." Stefan replied, teasingly; while returning a strong shake._

" _As for you, sister. I'm sorry, Bekah; I acted like the biggest asshole – I just needed time to realize it." The hybrid presented his deepest apology._

" _Did you forgive him?" Bekah turned her head toward her sister-in-law. "You're an angel if you did, Carolina?"_

" _I forgave him, a long time ago; I was just waiting for him to come back to me and our son." Carolina nodded, with a comforting smile; while grabbing her husband's left hand._

" _There's something we need to tell you." Stefan said; approaching his friend._

" _Talk." Klaus nodded._

" _It's about Anastassia." Stefan added, swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _What about her?" Klaus scattered the small group; noticing they have all lowered their heads, discomfort plastered on their faces._

" _She's alive." Rebekah nodded, a shy smile spreading on her lips._

" _Don't do this, Bekah." The hybrid replied, with a drier tone of voice and a single shake of his head. "I know you're mad at me; but this is cruel."_

" _It's the truth, Klaus; she's alive." Elijah confirmed, with a nod._

" _She was dead; there's no way she could be alive now." Klaus refused to believe it._

" _Vittorio managed to bring her back; using dark magic." Carolina explained, calmly, to him._

" _But there's a loophole; she's human now and can't be turned back as a vampire." Stefan continued to explain._

" _Where is she now? In Italy?" Klaus inquired, in shock._

" _No; she's with Damon, in France. He's trying to find a way to reverse the spell; and give her a chance to an eternal life." Stefan explained. "There's a lead of a powerful warlock that could help her. I can't tell you much more than that."_

" _I see." The hybrid replied. "Well, if there is someone more stubborn than me; it's your brother. He'll find a way."_

" _I know that regardless of what you could say; you got attached to her." Rebekah commented. "And she's your sister too after all."_

_Klaus nodded, unable to articulate his real feelings for his half-sister; but willing to open his heart to the possibility._

" _Nicklaus has the biggest heart; that's the reason why he needs to run away sometimes; when his emotions are taking the best of him." The female patriarch voice filled the silence; making them turn their heads to glance at Maria._

" _Mother?" Klaus called her._

" _Hello Nicklaus, you came home?" She added, with a smile. "Give your mother a hug, please?"_

" _I came home." He nodded, emotionally; before shortening the space between them to hug his mother._

" _I'm sorry about the loss of both your fathers." Maria whispered to her son's ears only; while caressing the base of his neck. "And I'm sorry for turning Carolina."_

" _It's ok, and thank you for all you did for her and my son." He whispered, himself, with much emotions; before gently pushing himself at arm length._

" _Hello." He heard the soft call of the young boy; before lowering his sight on his son._

_George, Elijah's bodyguard was holding a young blond boy by the shoulders; his deep blue eyes meeting the hybrid's sight in an inquiring look._

" _Hello." Klaus replied; his knees hitting the sand in front of his son._

" _Are you my dad?" Christopher asked, taking a few steps to reach his father's kneeling position._

" _Yes, I believe I am." Klaus nodded, tears filling his eyes._

" _He came back, mummy?" The young boy raised his head to glance at his mother, a huge smile spreading on his face._

" _I know, sweetheart; I've told you that one day your father would be back." Carolina nodded, tears rolling fluently on her cheeks, as well._

" _Mummy is crying." Christopher commented to his dad._

" _Sometimes, I make your mother cry." Klaus commented._

" _Me too." The young boy commented, with a nod. "I'm Christopher, by the way." He handed his small right hand to the hybrid._

" _I'm Nicklaus." He replied, shaking his son's hand._

" _Excuse-me." Rebekah brushed a tear from the corner of her eyes; the sudden loud ringtone startling everybody. She buried her right hand in her jeans' front pocket to pull her cellphone out. "It's Kol!" She finally informed, noticing the caller identification, before answering the call by placing the device near her right ear. "Yes, he's here. Stop yelling for God sake. I'll put you on speaker."_

" _Is Klaus near?" Kol asked, loudly; through the device. "Can he hear me?"_

" _Yes, Klaus and the entire country of Italy can hear you now." Rebekah confirmed, while rolling her eyes._

" _What's your fucking problem, Mikaelson? Abandoning your wife, son and family for two years, just like that?" Kol's angry voice filled the quietness of the beach. "It's the kind of bullshit that I would pull; but you, you're not allowed to do it. Do you hear me?"_

" _I would need to be deaf not to hear you, Kol!" Klaus mumbled, under clenched teeth. "My son is here, by the way."_

" _Hello Christopher!" Kol saluted with a kinder tone of voice. "I bought you a giant Koala as a gift!"_

" _Hello uncle Kol!" Christopher responded, near the device. "Cool!"_

" _Well, you better stay put in Italy, because I'm coming for you; and I swear my closed right fist is going to meet your face soon enough – if it's not my baseball bat!" Kol warned his brother, dryly._

" _Duly noted." Klaus added, with a loud sigh._

" _What you mean you're coming back to Italy? Did you manage to find Bonnie?" Rebekah asked, a huge grin spreading on her lips._

" _Yes, in Australia! She's handcuffed to my wrist as we speak!" Kol confirmed; with a small laughter. "No way will she escape me this time. She's not very happy about it, but I couldn't care less. We'll take the first plane back to Italy tomorrow morning."_

" _Ewww…" The general audience responded, wincing at the mere thought of Bonnie being handcuffed to Kol._

" _Give me the phone, Kol!" They all heard Bonnie's voice, smiles spreading on their faces._

" _Bonnie, is it you?" Rebekah inquired._

" _Yes, it's me – Your asshole of a brother is being a pain in my butt!" Bonnie yelled through the device._

" _Do you love him?" Rebekah asked, with a small laughter._

" _What?" Bonnie asked, surprised. "What kind of question is that?"_

" _Just answer me." The blonde Original asked, once more._

" _Sometimes…" The witch replied, with a low whisper. "He's handcuffed to me… Or I'm handcuffed to him; so I can't speak louder."_

" _I'll take that as a yes." Rebekah confirmed. "Then, come back to Italy with the man you love, Bonnie; it's time to come back to your family now." She added, before closing the cellphone._

" _Well, as for all of us, I suggest we all go back home and enjoy Isabella's dinner." Maria suggested, all smile. "For once, my entire family will be sitting at the same table, by my side." She added, joyfully._

" _Hear, hear!" Stefan raised his right fist in the air._

" _Minus Kol and Bonnie." George wrapped his left arm around Maria's waist; taking their first steps in the sand, to reach back their mansion._

" _They are on their way." Maria commented, raising her sight in her lover's._

" _Maybe tonight I could ask your hand in marriage to both or your eldest sons?" George suggested; blessing her forehead of a sweet kiss._

" _You're not obligated to…" She started explaining, before being shushed with one of George's finger placed on her parted lips._

" _I know that I'm not obligated to do this – I want to do it, because I love you, Maria Mikaelson; and I want to marry you." He explained; lowering his head to bless her lips of a tender kiss._

" _Daddy?" Christopher pulled on Klaus's cargo pants. "Will you tell me stories before I go to bed tonight?"_

_Klaus felt his chest raise in the air; being hit by an invisible punch in his stomach._

" _Are you ok?" Carolina asked, squeezing her husband's hand._

" _Yes, I'm ok, Love." He replied, raising his head to stare at his wife. "What kind of story would you like to hear, young man?"_

" _I want to hear where you've been the past two years; all the adventures you had to experience." The young boy asked, excitement filling his voice._

" _Then you shall hear that." Klaus replied, raising his right hand to caress his son's head._

" _Come Christopher; your uncle need to talk to your father." Katerina took her nephew's hand; pulling the young boy behind her own steps._

" _You'll stay with us now, daddy?" Christopher asked; while turning his head to glance at his father, one last time. "Forever?"_

" _Forever, it's a promise." Klaus nodded, tears filling his eyes._

" _Thank you." Elijah mouthed the words to his wife._

" _I love you." Katerina mouthed back. "Sweet kisses from Russia." She blow him a kiss._

" _I love you more, Katerina." He replied, truthfully, and with a single wink; seeing them leave behind the small group._

" _I'm proud of you." Carolina hugged her husband; blessing his bearded cheeks of a kiss. "But, the beard needs to go."_

" _Deal." Klaus replied, pulling his wife in the comfort of his arms; his lips meeting hers. "Now go; I'll be home soon." He gave her a friendly slap on the bottom._

" _I love you, Klaus Mikaelson." Carolina confessed, happily._

" _I love you more, Carolina Mikaelson." He replied, all smile; waiting a short while for her to walk at a distance. "What is it, Elijah?" He finally turned his sight toward his brother._

" _Petrov's army of hybrids has been on a sabbatical since you've left." Elijah informed his brother, hands placed on each side of his waist. "They received Petrov's strict order to wait for your return."_

" _How many?" Klaus inquired, with a narrowed sight._

" _A thousand men, maybe more." Elijah shrugged. "It's your heritage, Klaus; you can accept it or denying your right to become their leader."_

" _I can't do this alone, Elijah." Klaus shook his head. "You are the moral compass of this family, I need you by my side "if" we decide to do this I couldn't imagine doing it without you." He added, both hands placed on his brother's shoulders._

" _Let me think about it, would you? It's not a decision that I'll take lightly." Elijah replied. "In the meantime, brother; it's been a while since we sat at the same table." He added, sliding his right arm around Klaus's shoulders._

" _A long time indeed, Elijah." Klaus replied, a huge smile spreading on his lips; joy filling his heart and soul._

_**He was finally home…** _

* * *

_**Tapachula city, Mexico…** _

_The small bar located near the beach of Tapuchula was filled with locals and a few tourists who were cheering and toasting loudly with their Tequila shots and glasses of beers raised in the air. A few Mariachis placed at the corner of the room, strumming the cords of their guitars, with their melancholic voices singing the lyrics._

_One imposing, dark hair with grey strands, bearded man was standing at the far edge of the bar counter, slowly sipping his bottle of beer; his sight lost in the grandness of the ocean._

" _Who would have thought that we would be both stock in here, one day?" A male companion appeared by his side, snapping his fingers at the bartender._

" _What will it be Senor?" The short and corpulent Mexican man asked._

" _Double shots of Tequila." The man called with a dry voice._

" _Si Senor." The bartender nodded; grabbing a small glass to fill it to the edge, before sliding it in front of the customer._

" _What got your underwear in a twist tonight?" The bearded man asked his companion, taking another gulp of his beer to hide his grin._

" _I'm suffering from arthritis! My fingers are literally curving …. LOOK!" The salt and pepper hair man showed both of his hands, a sour expression plastered on his face._

" _What were you expecting in your old age anyway?" The bearded man shrugged, mostly amused. "And it's you who wanted to come to Mexico – Because of your arthritis, you've said – The Ocean and hot climate would do you good, you've said – remember?"_

" _Fat chance! It's hurting me more than ever." Mikael Mikaelson gulped the entirety of his double shots; wincing at the taste. "Shit! I can't even hold my alcohol anymore." He swore, under clenched teeth; wiping the corners of his mouth with the back of his right hand._

" _Well, when you'll be rolling on the floor, drunk as you can be; I'll be able to sip my beer quietly." Ludvic Petrov commented, teasingly._

" _Go fuck yourself!" Mikael snapped back; asking the bartender for a second refill._

" _No, I think I'll fuck the pretty Mexican woman who's lurking in my direction instead." Petrov commented, winking at the middle age – good looking woman who suddenly blushed under the Russian man's examination of her many charms._

" _Fuck the pretty Mexican woman?" Mikael tilted his head toward the back, busting into loud laughter, while stroking his watery eyes. "Man, the last time you've tried to … You know, "fuck", you needed a blue pill, and it still did not worked at the end."_

" _Shush! Would you lower your voice for God sake; Mikaelson!" Ludvic warned him, with darted eyes and a pointed finger underneath his nose._

" _Ok, ok…" Mikael lowered his head and nose in his glass of Tequila; before gulping it entirely. "Shit! This hurts like a bitch!" He exclaimed, loudly. "You know, the person responsible for all our misery is entirely your warlock: Vittorio!"_

" _Just be grateful that he was able to bring both of us back to life as humans, Mikael, with in addition my beautiful daughter, Anastassia; and stop whining about it all the time!" Ludvic replied, under clenched teeth. "And Vittorio did this, even if his life is now in jeopardy for doing so."_

" _Don't tell me you are finding this all experience as a human, an enjoyable one?" The eldest of the Mikaelsons asked, dumbfounded._

" _No, I'm not finding it enjoyable at all. But, instead of whining all the time, I'm thinking of a way out." Petrov signed the waiter to bring two more bottles of beer, before handing one to his companion._

" _There's not fucking way out!" Mikael growled, lowering his head near Ludvic's. "Vittorio told us that we would be stuck in our human forms until our … Well, real deaths this time – It's the price to pay, Petrov!"_

" _There's always a way out, Mikael!" Ludvic grabbed the Original's right forearm to give it a squeeze. "I wouldn't have been glorified as their "King" if I wasn't a fighter to start with."_

" _And in the meantime?" Mikael inquired with an arched eyebrow. "What is there left to do?"_

" _Well, the sea, the ocean, beers, Tequila, and women?" Petrov shrugged, under the loud sigh of annoyance of Mikael. "You know what? Let's make a toast on the single fact that our sons ar_

" _If I tell you it's concerning "her" would you come then?" Vittorio questioned; his chin raised._

" _What do you mean it's concerning "her"?" Damon stumbled on his own feet; taking a few steps to reach the warlock. "Don't fuck with my brain man!"_

" _Come!" Vittorio proposed, impassive._

_Damon reluctantly followed the warlock inside of a van; before being drove to an unknown recluse hostel-pub, thirty minutes out of the nearest city or village._

_They both descended a few cement stairs leading to the entrance, before taking a narrowed corridor toward an imposing wooden door._

" _That's enough theatrical for one day, warlock!" The century Vampire growled; grabbing Vittorio's shirt collar, before pushing the poor lard on the brick wall behind his back. "Where are you bringing me? And most of all: why are you bringing me here?" Damon spat, angrily; his face at a near inch of the warlock's._

" _Now, now darling… If you could only calm down and let me bring you inside this pub; you'll soon understand why I brought you here." Vittorio managed to explained; under a shortness of breaths._

" _Fine!" Damon pushed the warlock in front of him; without much consideration._

_Vittorio pushed the large door, entering inside the empty pub; the vampire very closed on his heels._

" _Now what - bleached head? Why are you setting all this circus?" Damon questioned, angrily; turning a few times on himself to scatter the empty place. "I'm telling you, Vittorio…" He took a step forward to reach the warlock's standing position, who swallowed a lump in his throat in fear. "I'm this close of snapping your head off your shoulders, pulling your heart out of your chest, or hanging your balls on the chandelier – What will it be?"_

" _Just … Just a question before my upcoming death? The last option for you, is this a form of flirting?" Vittorio tried to relax the atmosphere._

" _That's it, earthworm!" Damon forcefully grabbed the warlock by both upper arms, before alleviating him in the air._

" _Let him go, Damon!" The order cut the air like a sword._

_Damon froze all his movements, dropping the warlock back on his feet; a sense of déjà vu filling his entire being at the sound of the female voice. He slowly raised his head, having the feeling that his past human heart was beating like a drum in his chest; even if it was technically impossible. And then … He saw her! Anastassia was standing up the stairs, which probably lead to a few bedrooms._

" _Anastassia?" The name escaped his trembling lips; a veil of tears blurring his sight. "What did you do? Why did you create this hallucination – Do you have a sick perversion to make me suffer?" Damon turned his head back toward the warlock, while snapping angrily at him._

" _It's not what you think…" Vittorio shook his head, vigorously; not being able to finish his explanation. "This is real, Damon!"_

" _Damon; I'm real." The redhead Russian girl reassured the vampire with a single sentence._

" _How?" Damon stood speechless, both arms falling flat on each side of his body._

" _I'll let you explain to him." Vittorio nodded toward his female friend. "Keep your boyfriend on a leash, would you?" He mocked, gently; turning on himself to reach the door._

" _I intend to." Anastassia responded, with a shy smile; watching her friend closing the door behind his back._

_They stood there in silence for a few minutes, Damon at the bottom of the stairs, not being able to grasp the reality of her being alive._

" _How is this even possible?" He asked, once more._

_Anastassia slowly descended the stairs; her red high heels hitting the wood in rhythmic tempo._

" _Vittorio …" The bombshell let the name escape her parted lips. "He brought me back to life using black magic." She explained, reaching his level. "He was able to reach and carry my body out of the cavern and did some sort of dark spell to bring me back to life; with the help of witches affiliated to the Vatican."_

_Damon slowly raised his right shaking hand to caress the soft outline of her cheeks._

" _Oh baby, you're alive!" He let a smile spread on his manly lips; before pulling the redhead in the comfort of his arms; squeezing her so hard over his chest, that she let a small cry escape her lisp. "Oh my God; I can't… I can't believe it … I can't believe that you're alive." He stammered, nervously; caressing and sliding his fingers through her long red curls._

" _Oh I've missed you so much, Damon!" Anastassia let the admission slip out of her lips; both hands caressing the base of his neck._

" _You're real… You are so freaking real!" He exclaimed, joyfully; before coming off of their embrace to cup her face with both hands._

" _I'm real… And you… You did not shave for how many centuries?" She questioned, small laughter escaping her throat; both hands caressing the scruff on his chin and cheeks. "And you smell like bourbon all over!"_

" _Nothing had mattered since you've … I mean, since you left me." Damon let the true admission escape his mind and lips. "I … I fell in love with you; Anastassia… I couldn't imagine my life without you in it."_

" _Oh Damon …" She shook her head, lowering her head while suddenly losing her smile. "I love you too, but …"_

" _What? No, no … There's no "but" anymore, you hear me?" He grabbed her chin, raising her head to drown his sight in hers._

" _There was a loophole – A price to pay to bring me back, Damon; a huge one." The Russian woman admitted; tears filling her eyes._

" _What kind of price to pay?" Damon inquired, swallowing a lump in his dry throat._

" _I'm human." Anastassia admitted, in a single sigh._

" _What?" The young vampire exclaimed, frowning. "But … How? And why?"_

" _It was simply the loophole attached to the black magic Vittorio had to use to bring me back." The redhead explained._

" _What if … What if I turn you? What if you become a vampire again?" Damon suggested, hopeful; grabbing both of her hands in his._

" _No, Damon… If you do such thing; you'll kill me – I can't turn back again; it's the real price to pay to have me back in the living." She informed him, toneless._

" _Your father? Mikael Mikaelson? Maybe Vittorio had tried to bring them back to life also? Maybe they'll find a way to go back as what they were?" Damon tried to find a slim chance of hope._

" _No." Anastassia shook her head, once more; a tear rolling on her cheeks. "Vittorio told me he couldn't bring them back; because he wasn't able to reach their bodies."_

" _Are you sure?" Damon asked again; whipping her tears off her cheeks._

" _Yes." She nodded. "That's why I waited a little time before asking Vittorio to bring you back to me. I'm not the "Anastassia" that you used to know; and maybe..." She shrugged, biting into her bottom lip._

" _And maybe … Nothing!" Damon reprimanded her. "I don't give a fuck if you're human, vampire or an alien, Anastassia."_

" _But, Damon … I'll age, and … You won't be able to look at me the same way." The Russian woman replied, pleading her case._

" _I will always look at you the same way, Anastassia; because I love you." Damon replied, honestly; slowly bending his head to brush her parted lips of a kiss. "We'll find a way, I promise … We'll find a way." He brought her back in his arms; softly rocking her body out of her dark thoughts. "Now, let's get out of this place and find a decent way for me to make love to you all night long." He suggested, a huge grin spreading on his lips._

" _Can I tie you to the bed?" Anastassia asked, kinkily and with a single wink._

" _Still?" Damon raised both eyebrows in surprise._

" _I'm human, but still myself, Damon." She whispered, near his left ear; softly biting into his earlobe._

" _Oh baby, you can tie me to anything you want." He replied, small laughter escaping his throat, before crashing his lips on hers._

* * *

_**Vatican; Rome - Italy…** _

_Kol pushed open the two brass doors, entering the huge parlor room of the East Wing of the Vatican, with Bonnie close on his heels. A few priests and the Cardinal Gorski promptly raised on their legs, from their comfortable sitting positions on leather armchairs; consternation and fear showing on all of their faces._

" _In the name of the Vatican and God – Lower your weapons now or die!" A few guards placed themselves in front of the Cardinal, with the obvious order to guard his life, while a few others who were standing near the group of religious men, rushed toward the Original._

_Kol raised his sword in the air, letting a loud growl out of his throat, before cutting a few additional heads from their bodies; his own face being splashed all over by fresh blood. In the meantime, Bonnie would elevate a few more in the air; before pushing their bodies on the opposite wall, with the help of her magic._

_When all was taking care of, a pile a headless bodies at their feet; Kol slowly advanced toward the Cardinal, his fiery sight narrowed on the pitiful man._

" _I give you two choices; I'll kill your priests or I'll kill you? What would a man of the Vatican, a man of God would respond?" Kol narrowed his eyes on his victim; who stood proudly in front of him, with his chin raised._

" _You're a vampire, an abomination – a monster!" Cardinal Gorski spat to Kol's face._

" _I think that part has already been established by you!" Bonnie made her way among the dead bodies. "You tracked us like animals; who are you to decide whose good or not? Who are you to decide if the supernatural species should be allowed on this earth?" She spat to the man's face._

" _Cardinal Gorski, what is this young woman talking about?" One of the eldest of the priests demanded, mostly outraged._

" _Calm down my child; the tracking down was absolutely not against the witches or warlocks; or you for a matter of fact!" The Cardinal responded, dryly. "She obviously don't know what she is talking about." He finally addressed the priest._

" _Oh no? And killing my grandmother was a terrible mistake too, I suppose? Simply because she was against all plans the Vatican had to get rid of the magic community?" Bonnie replied; closed fists placed on each side of her tensed body._

" _Is this all true?" Another priest asked, with much concerns in his tone._

" _Just shut up all of you!" The Cardinal warned the entire assembly; pointing a forbidden finger toward each of the priests. "You have no idea to what length I went to protect the Vatican from these … These monsters! All of them: vampires, hybrids, werewolves, witches, warlocks!" He exclaimed, angrily._

" _I guess you've just chosen their faith then?" Kol arched an eyebrow; staring at the group of priests._

" _What? Of course I want to live – I'm not an idiot – God would want me to live, for the sake of the Vatican!" The pitiful man replied, disdainfully looking at the group of priests. "Kill them if necessary; if this means I'll stay alive, they'll die for the cause."_

" _Wrong answer." Kol exclaimed, Cardinal Gorski's head rolling on the marble floor a second later; a trail of blood reaching the priests feet. "I hope this will be a lesson for all of you present here today." The Original added, toneless. "This man tracked us like animals in the mere intention to kill all of our species."_

_The group of priests remained silent, staring at each other; sadness, horror and stupefaction plastered on all of their faces._

" _We can live in peace; if you allowed us to be part of this world." Bonnie added, tears filling her eyes._

_One of the priests, the eldest, suddenly advanced toward their own standing positions._

" _We weren't aware of this conspiracy made against your supernatural world." The middle age man declared, truthfully. "God put all creatures on this earth for a purpose. Even the devil himself was one of prettiest angel on his wing." He added. "This said, if we promised to you to stop all retaliation against your species; you need to promise to me, to all of us, that you'll keep the Vatican safe in all cost?"_

_Kol and Bonnie stared at each other for a few seconds; finally nodding at their shared silent decision. The man seemed like an honorable one, with only one word of honor._

" _I promise that the Vatican will be safe from our species as of now; if you're keeping your word." Kol agreed._

" _There is enough blood on both my hands and yours to last a century." The priest concluded, with a single nod._

* * *

" _You seem quite eager?" Kol grinned; watching Bonnie jiggling herself out of her panties, from his sitting position at the foot of the bed._

_They have rented a bedroom in a luxurious hotel in the city of Rome; where a set of silk bed sheets and platted gold fixtures in the master suite bathroom silk had been waiting for them._

' _What can I say; seeing you decapitate our enemies can trigger my sexual appetite." Bonnie pushed her panties off her feet, unhooking her bra; before lowering her right hand to slowly rub his hard and long shaft through the fabric of his boxer. "Get rid of them, now; so I can ride you…" She ordered; whispering the words near his right ear. "Hard … Very hard!"_

" _Yes, madam!" Kol hurried to remove his boxer; grabbing her waist to bring her in full contact with his bulged chest. "There, you can ride me now." He mouthed the words on her parted lips; a huge smile plastered on his face._

" _You seem quite eager?" She teased him, gently; striding him, before slowly lowering her wet entrance on his engorged member._

" _Oh Bonnie, you drive me crazy!" He whispered, with anticipation and pleasure; placing himself at her entrance, before feeling her narrowed walls engulf him to the depths of herself. "Fuck!" He growled, head bend toward the back; while keeping her rapid pace in rhythmic pushes and pulls._

" _Shush…Just enjoy the moment." She whispered herself, softly nibbling on his earlobe; a loud moan escaping her parted lips when his fingers started to pinch her erected nipples._

" _I intend to, darling." He replied; crashing his lips on hers, while accelerating their tempo._

* * *

" _Mm… darling…" Kol Mikaelson mumbled, in his semi-state of consciousness; before frantically opening his eyes, noticing that both of his wrists were restrained by handcuffs to the iron bed. "What the fuck; Bonnie?" He exclaimed, with wide opened eyes. "Tell me this is one of your many kinky moments?" He demanded reassurance._

_The young witch was standing at the foot of the bed, arms crossed over her chest; wicked smile raising both corners of her red lips._

" _I wish I could, baby; but this is more "goodbye" actually. I have a train to take, which will bring me to the airport; and then … Well, I'll discover the world, like I always wanted." Bonnie replied, before grabbing the backpack left at her feet. "How do we say it in Italian? Oh yes: arriverderci!" She waved her fingers at the Original, before blowing a kiss at his intention. "I'll never forget you, Kol Mikaelson!" She added, before turning on her heels, to leave the bedroom suite._

" _Bonnie Bennett, come back here, now!" Kol spat, pulling on both of his wrists; without being able to free himself from the handcuffs. "Baby, baby … Please? You're scared and afraid of what you're feeling for me; because it's too strong for you to handle." He begged and tried to explain at the same time. "Come on; don't do this, please? I fell in love with you … And deep down you know that you have fell in love with me also. We can do this darling, I swear we can."_

_Bonnie held her hand on the handle for a few seconds, eyes closed; while taking a long and deep breath into her lungs. He was right! She was scared as hell of her new found feelings for him … She was scared of what that could mean … And she would gladly prefer to leave him behind, like the coward that she was, than face her own fear of loving him._

" _Bye Kol!" She gave him a goodbye for the last time, tears rolling on her cheeks; the door being closed behind her back._

" _For fuck sake, come back here, Bonnie Bennett!" He yelled, through the closed door. "I'll scatter the entire planet if I have to, but I swear that I'll find you; and will bring you back to Italy with me… Mark my words for it, darling!"_

* * *

**U.S.A. / Las Vegas City**

" _Stop whining and get your ass out of the damn car!" Stefan ordered, sliding his head through the opened passenger window of the rented 1979 convertible Mustang._

" _Are you crazy? If I step a foot out of this relic, people will know that we rent it…On purpose!" Rebekah exclaimed; her arms firmly crossed over her chest._

" _Of course I rent this car on purpose!" Stefan replied; mostly annoyed by her princess attitude. "It's a classic car for God sake, Bekah!" He added, promptly pulling the lock up, before opening the passenger door to pull out his female companion. "Now step out and look!"_

_The female Original stepped out, before placing her right hand as a visor on her forehead, so as not to dazzle._

" _Elvis Chapel!" She read out loud the colorful sign, with bright light flashing around it; being mostly horrified by it. "That's it Salvatore; you can't ask me to get married to you inside this … This … Impostor of a chapel, and by a pastor dressed as Elvis!" She turned on her heels, before rushing the opposite side, down the sidewalk._

" _What? But it's the perfect spot and the only available at this hour, Rebekah! Now, come back here – This chapel is perfectly legit; we'll be married by law in less than fifteen minutes; if you stop acting like a shrew for a change." He ran after her; passerby starting to notice their couple quarrel._

" _Did you say that I'm acting like a shrew - A SHREW, REALLY?" Rebekah turned on herself to face her interlocutor; closed fists firmly placed on each side of her hips. "Are you kidding me? Did you take a look at me lately? At the outrageous wedding dress I'm wearing?" She pointed two straight fingers toward the white - two sizes too large for her – short lace dress._

" _You're acting foolishly, you look beautiful in it. You would wear a garbage bag that I would still find you attractive." Stefan pulled the reluctant Original in his arms, both hands firmly placed on each side of her waist; his head bended to softly kiss her left cheek._

" _Beautiful? It's two sizes up of my own size, for God sake!" Rebekah replied, while trying to squirm herself away from his strong grip. "And cowboy boots?"_

" _Yes, but with the leather belt we've put around your waist; the size is hardly noticeable – And the brown color of the belt goes perfectly well with the boots." Stefan shrugged, unapologetically. "And it's the best I could do in such short notice. Now come!" He grabbed Rebekah's left hand, pulling her on his heels toward the entrance of the chapel._

" _Stefan … You really want to do this?" Rebekah asked, anxiously, taking an abrupt halt at the end of the red aisle; her sight glancing at the atrocious Graceland décor, and the pastor dressed as Elvis. Adding to the horrific picture, a young couple reciting their vows over the "You're always on my mind" song._

" _Don't you?" Stefan questioned, fingers still interlaced with hers; serious stare straight in front of him._

" _I… Is this us?" Rebekah questioned, out loud._

" _You're right, you're right … What was I thinking?" Stefan shook his head, while releasing her hand; consternation plastered on his face. "Let's go … Let's leave now, we should go back to Italy." He pulled her toward the exit door._

" _What? But I thought … I mean; aren't we supposed to get married?" Rebekah hold her ground; holding his own rush to a halt._

" _Yes, but … You deserve so much better than a marriage in Las Vegas chapel, with a pastor dressed as Elvis Presley." Stefan replied. "You probably want the big wedding with the nine yards of flowers and a dress fit for a princess. And now that I'm thinking about it, I'm probably not suited to be your husband."_

" _What, no, why would you think and say that?" Rebekah exclaimed, with strong shakes of her head._

" _Well, isn't it the truth?" Stefan lowered his head, to hide both his amusement and prank._

" _No, no … I don't care about fancy wedding, dress and all the shebang. I just want …" Rebekah grabbed both of Stefan's hands._

" _Yes, Rebekah …_ _ **What do you truly want**_ _?" Stefan raised his head; drowning his fiery sight in hers. "Can you tell me? Can you be truthful for once?"_

" _I … I just want… I just want to be married to you, here, now… I don't care about the chapel, the pastor dressed as Elvis, or the dress that is two sizes too large for me." She stammered, nervously. "All I care is being married to you: Stefan Salvatore, forever."_

_A large grin appeared on Stefan's lips, a glow of happiness spreading on his facial traits, a bright light filling the iris of his eyes._

" _Rebekah Mikaelson, it took you long enough to prove me that you truly wanted to be married to me as much as I wanted to be married to you." He cupped her face with both hands. "I guess my plan worked?"_

" _What do you mean? You tricked me?" Rebekah questioned; mouth wide opened. "Why would you do that?" She hit his left upper arm with her closed fist._

" _Don't be mad, baby; please don't be mad?" Stefan kissed her parted lips. "I needed to test you, to be certain; I needed to sense that we had both grown up to what we were supposed to be as a couple." He tried to express his true intention. "There is no more running away from your part, no more tossing you on the side of the route from my part. Now, there's only two souls who desperately want to be joined together for eternity. I want you to belong to me, and I want to belong to you, Bekah."_

" _Since when did you become such a romantic, Salvatore?" Rebekah questioned; a small laughter escaping her lips, with tears rolling down on her cheeks._

" _Since a beautiful blonde vampire bombshell, with a stubborn head on her shoulders, entered my life." He replied; laughter escaping his own throat. "Let's get out of here, and find you a nice dress and a decent way to get married."_

" _No, no … I want to do this!" Rebekah pulled him back at the end of the aisle, just at the mere moment the young couple were leaving the premises, large smiles plastered on their faces._

" _Are you sure?" Stefan questioned, with an arched eyebrow._

" _Yes!" Rebekah turned her head to lock her sight with his. "I love you forever and with all my heart, Stefan Salvatore."_

" _I love you too, Rebekah Mikaelson, forever and with all my heart." He replied, now finally confident of their shared feelings for each other._

* * *

_**Italy, two years later …** _

" _Christopher!" Carolina shouted her son's name; both closed fists placed on each side of her hips. "I've told you to not bother the tourists!"_

_They had this daily routine now of walking along the beach to pick-up a few shells along the way._

" _But mummy… I was just saying hello to the nice lady." The blonde, curly hair little boy pouted, adorably; crossing his arms in front of his chest as a gesture of rebellion. So much of the stubbornness of his father in him, Carolina thought, letting a long sigh escape her lips._

" _Oh, he's no bother at all!" The lady who had placed a few beach towels on the sand responded; her hand placed on her forehead as a visor. "Your son is adorable and so polite, how old is he?"_

_The lethal question … Once more! How was she supposed to explain to the ordinary humans that her son was technically two years old – but talked, walked and thought like a young boy of five? How was she supposed to explain that her son had been created in a supernatural way, by a powerful hybrid man named Ludvic Petrov; with the help of magic?_

" _He's five years old." Carolina replied, a large forced smile spreading on her lips. "Now, come here, Christopher; leave the nice lady and her family alone, would you."_

" _Well, he's a good looking young boy." The mother of what seemed to be twins responded to her, politely._

" _Thank you." Christopher nodded, smiling; rushing toward his mother, before sliding his little fingers in Carolina's._

_They walked, side by side, hand by hand, on the beach for a few minutes; before she would kneel in front of her son to talk to him._

" _Did you show your sparkling eyes to the lady?" Carolina inquired, calmly._

" _No mommy; you've asked me to never show my sparkling eyes to anyone but you, Aunty Katerina, Uncle Elijah, grandmother…" The young boy started enumerating the long list on his little fingers._

" _It's OK, sweetheart; I know the list as well as you do." Carolina replied; trying to hold her laughter. "You're a special boy, Christopher; with …"_

" _With special powers, you've told me." The young boy nodded, cutting her sentence short. "Like the power of Captain America!" He raised his closed fists as a sign of special power and honor._

" _Something like that, yes." She raised her right hand to place it over her mouth; to hide her growing need to burst into laughter._

" _Oh look mummy; it is grandma and Uncle George on the boardwalk, can I run to say hello – Please, please?" Christopher exclaimed, enthusiastically, jumping on both joined foot; while pointing toward the boardwalk._

" _OK, OK … Yes; but just take your sandals in your hands, and don't forget to …" Carolina gave her strict instructions, but the young boy was already rushing to reach the boardwalk in a rapid run._

_Carolina shook her head, raising herself on both legs, a smile plastered on her face. He was his father's son for sure: impulsive and free like the wind; she thought to herself. She carried her own sandals in her left hand, her right raising the length of her sundress skirt, before turning on herself to face Klaus Mikaelson in the flesh!_

_Her eyes opened widely, a small cry escaping her parted lips; with her legs giving up on her. The sandals firstly hit the sands, before she fell herself falling on her knees, her right hand raised over her chest._

_He had finally came back to her!_

* * *

_Maria buried her eyes in the immensity of the blue sea and beach laying in front of her sight._

" _He's a fine looking young boy." George commented, watching Christopher ran on the beach, toward the boardwalk; while sliding his hands upward on Maria's back to gently squeeze her shoulders in a gentle massage._

" _He surely is. I can see so much of his father and grandfather in him." Maria agreed. "Oh that feels good, George!" She moaned with pleasure; lowering her head on his bulged chest. "You have magic hands." She closed her eyes, letting the truth escape her lips._

" _I thought you already knew that fact about me, after last night?" He teased, mockingly; his lips trailing a line of fire down on the left side of her neck._

" _George!" She protested, vehemently; before reopening her eyes. "Keep your voice down, someone could see or hear you."_

" _Who? The tourists?" George replied, rolling his eyes to the blue sky. "You think I give a fuck about the tourists?"_

" _And your language!" She scolded him; hitting his chest with a closed fist._

" _Do not tell me you're still feeling ashamed of us?" George exclaimed, in shock._

" _Ashamed of us? No! Why would you think something like that for heaven sake?" Maria commented, mostly outraged. "There's nothing to be ashamed of."_

" _Well, you're avoiding all public display of affection." George shrugged, dumbfounded. "Because if this was the case, Maria; I wouldn't make much sense to me."_

" _After two years or courtship; you've never noticed that I was a reserved woman?" Maria questioned, with amazement._

" _It simply thought you haven't fully accepted us." He shrugged._

" _I think the cry you got out of my lips last night made it perfectly clear to my children that I have accepted you!" Maria replied, a deep color of red appearing on both of her cheeks._

" _Grandma Maria, Uncle George!" Christopher yelled, reaching their standing positions on the boardwalk._

" _Hey champion!" George raised the young boy in his arms, to give him a kiss._

" _Did you see me run? I'm faster now." The young boy announced, proudly; before being dropped back on his two feet._

" _I certainly did!" George gave him a high five._

" _Grandma?" Christopher pulled on Maria's skirt to get her attention._

" _Yes, my sweet boy; what is it?" Maria lowered her head to glance at her grandson._

" _Who's the man with mummy?" He questioned, pointing, and with his sight narrowed at the horizon._

" _Oh my God, George!" Maria wrapped her fingers around the bodyguard's left wrist. "Look, it's Klaus! He's finally back!"_

" _Who's that man, grandma?" Christopher continued to ask; his head turning from George to Maria, alternatively. "I have an idea of who he could be, but I am not sure?"_

" _I'll find the others." George nodded; blessing her forehead of a sweet kiss before turning on his heels to run toward their Italian mansion._

" _Grandma Maria?" Christopher called, in a louder voice. "Are you listening to me?"_

" _Oh sweet, sweet boy. Of course, I'm listening to you." Maria knelled in front of her grandson; both hands cupping the young boy's face._

" _Is the man who running after mummy, my father?" Christopher asked, his blue eyes buried in Maria's._

" _Oh dear God; how could you even know that?" Maria questioned, mostly to herself._

" _I don't know… I just do." Christopher shrugged, fatalistic._

" _Yes, he is." She confirmed, caressing his cheeks. "He's your father, his name is Nicklaus Mikaelson."_

" _He seems strong and tall." The young boy has noticed; and came to the conclusion that it would make him a hero. "Will I ever be as strong and tall as him?" He wondered, tilting his head._

" _Oh …" Maria lowered her head, tears filling her eyes. "I believe you'll even be stronger and taller."_

" _Good!" Christopher let a smile spread on his face. "Will I meet him later?"_

" _Most likely." Maria nodded, wiping the tears from her face._

" _Why are you crying, Grandmother?" The young boy questioned, with wondering eyes._

" _It's … It's because I'm happy to see your father again." Maria explained, in simpler words._

" _I understand." Christopher concluded; with much thinking from his part. "Can I go play now?"_

" _As long as I can see you from where I'm standing in the boardwalk, yes." Maria replied, much emotions filling her heart and soul._

* * *

_Elijah Mikaelson entered his bedroom suite; his sight falling on his wife, Katerina; who was sitting on an armchair, set of needles knit in her hands._

" _Knitting, really; Katerina?" Elijah questioned, teasingly; raising his head to the ceiling, both hands placed on each side of his tensed body, a nerve twitching his left cheek and jaw. God that woman had the talent to make it out of its hinges._

" _You forbade me to continue to scatter the world to find my sister's husband, therefore I'm knitting." Katerina responded, dryly; her hands busy at the said task._

" _You call that, knitting?" Elijah approached her sitting position; arms crossed over his chest, right hand raising in front of his mouth to hold his laughter. "What is it supposed to be, exactly?"_

" _Isn't it obvious?" Katerina raised her head and sight to her husband. "It's a sweater for Christopher!" She replied, raising the atrocious mesh wool._

" _To a blind it would be obvious, perhaps?" The Original tilted his head toward the back, bursting into a loud laughter._

" _Why are you laughing?" She jumped on her joined feet; steam coming out of her ears, closed fists placed on each side of her hips._

" _Well, beautiful … It's Italy, it's a hot country; I just don't think Christopher will have the chance to wear this piece of art." Elijah tried to lower the blow._

" _It's colder in winter even in Italy, and this is cotton wool." Katerina tried to explain. "I used to knit sweaters for Carolina when she was younger, back in Russia."_

" _Poor girl; my heart goes to her." Elijah mumbled to himself._

" _What did you just say?" Katerina crossed her arms in front of her chest; her fiery sight narrowed on her husband._

" _I meant; she was obviously very lucky to have you in her life, to take care of her." Elijah lied through his teeth; reaching his wife's standing position, before blessing her forehead of a sweet kiss. "Like I am the luckiest man to have you in my life."_

" _If you're trying to lower my temper by offering sex to me, the answer is no!" Katerina pushed herself at arm length._

" _I'm sorry?" Elijah raised an eyebrow at her sudden outburst. "Why would I need to beg to have sex with my wife?" He questioned, shrugging. "And what are you wearing on top of your pair of short anyway? Is it some kind of new fashion statement from your part?"_

"пояс целомудрия!" _She replied in Russian, with a raised chin; and a huge grin spreading on her voluminous lips._

" _A chastity belt?" Elijah repeated, in shock. "Tell me you're joking? Tell me you're joking now, Katerina?" He shook his head, dumbfounded._

" _Until you grant me the authorization to restart looking for your brother; neither you nor I will have sex with each other, Elijah." She explained, proud of herself._

" _Obviously!" Elijah exclaimed; furiously. "What in hell, Katerina? Give me the damn key, now?"_

" _No." She shook her head. "You've always used sex to lower my temper, I grant you that I'm obviously not immune to your charm; so it's the only way that I found for me to stand my ground."_

" _Where would a sane woman find a chastity belt in this second millennium?" Elijah questioned; grabbing two hands full of his tick dark hair. "Not that I'm staring at a sane one at the present moment!"_

" _I was an escort once, remember? I have my ways of finding kinky "things"." She shrugged, unapologetically. "And you would be surprised what you could find on the internet; especially on the erotic sites."_

" _This is going too damn far, Katerina Mikaelson." Elijah spat to his wife's face; a straight finger pointed toward her chest. "I understand your need to protect your sister, because I always felt the same with my own siblings; I understand that you have been feeling helpless the past two years, believe me I felt my share of disappointments. But, Katerina; you can't change the outcome in life – You can't change the fact that my brother will come back when he'll decide to come back, and not before that time!"_

" _Stop yelling at me; I'm not deaf!" The brunette vampire spat back at him. "You won't have the key until you'll grant me the authorization to look for your brother." She stood on her ground, once more. "My sister cries herself to sleep every night. Yes, she is showing a wide smile in the days, and she is also a wonderful mother to Christopher; but I'm her sister and I know better, I know her heart ache for his return, Elijah."_

" _You think I don't know that, Katerina?" Elijah lowered his upper body and head at a near inch of his wife's. "How stupid to you think I am?" He questioned her. "But, we also have our own marriage on the line. We can't continue to live in the shadow of my brother, for God sake."_

" _You're not satisfied by me?" Katerina questioned herself, all colors leaving her cheeks._

" _What? No, no … Why would you even think something like that?" Elijah shook his head, in shock. "It's because I want always more of you. I'll never be satiated, never!" He added, in a cry. "You infiltrated my heart, my body and soul … You're like this decease to me!"_

_Katerina startled, all of her movements frozen on spot. A decease? She felt the first tears rolling on her cheeks, before turning on her heels to rush toward the suite bathroom before slamming the door to his face._

" _Katerina, open the door, please?" Elijah begged of her, while turning the handle in all directions. She had obviously locked the door. "I meant it in the best of ways possible. I can't get enough of you, beautiful. You're everything to me… Everything…" He lowered his forehead on the panel, a loud sigh escaping his lips._

* * *

_Elijah startled, his eyelids slowly reopening through his semi-state of sleep; while slowly regaining his consciousness. He must have drifted into the unconsciousness an hour ago; now awakening at the subtle creaking of the bathroom door._

_And then he saw her … Stepping across the threshold, like a divine apparition._

" _I fell asleep." He informed his wife, sitting on the armchair; softly rubbing his eyelids._

" _I'm sorry; Elijah." She confessed, while approaching his sitting position._

" _What are you sorry for, beautiful?" The Originals asked; suddenly regaining full use of his sight, while glancing at the sexy lingerie that his wife was wearing. "It's me who should be ashamed, not you." He shook his head. "I expressed my deepest thoughts in a wrong way; and while using the wrong words."_

" _I know; I realized that; and I got rid of the chastity belt." Katerina informed him; sensually biting into her red bottom lip, both hands playing with the two ribbons holding her full breasts inside the sheer fabric of her sexy teddy._

" _I can see that." He responded, sliding his fiery sight on the length of her wife's body. "Is it new?"_

" _Something that I've picked up when I bought the chastity belt." Katerina shrugged, while playing her erotic game; before straddling his legs to sit on his lap. "You'll have to forgive me though…" She lowered her full breasts in full contact with his bulged chest._

" _I don't see why?" Elijah whispered; enrolling a strand of her long curls around his index finger. "I prefer this to the ugly chastity belt." He added, with one of his most seductive smiles; his left hand sliding on the small of her back._

" _I forgot to buy the set of panties that goes with the teddy." She informed him, teasingly nibbling on his left earlobe. "I hope you don't mind?"_

_Elijah let a loud growl escape his throat; promptly raising Katerina's body in his arms, while rushing in his vampire speed toward the King size bed to lay himself in top of his wife's trembling body; his hands ripping the silk fabric before his mouth could find the sweet deliverance of her erected nipples, his right hand finding the growing wetness between her legs._

" _Oh Elijah!" She let a loud cry escape her lips; both hands buried in the softness of his hair._

" _I love you, Katerina… I love you so much. Please, forget about my brother; forget about the world… Just think of us both." He begged of her, raising his head to bury his sight in his wife's._

" _I love you too… More than life itself." She replied; before feeling his manly lips crash on her parted ones._

* * *

_**Prior to all these events…** _

_He hadn't changed much if it wasn't for his tick beard, and his longer curly hair, that he was now wearing shoulder length._

" _Oh my God Klaus… You're here, you're really here." She managed to let the words escape her trembling lips._

" _Carolina…" Her name escaped the Original's lips, his fiery sight taking all of her, all at once. He dropped his backpack on the sand; falling on his knees to face her, a few seconds later._

" _It's you …" She raised her right hand, barely brushing the skin of his left cheek, before pulling it back near her chest; redness filling both of her cheeks._

" _I understand." He swallowed a lump in his throat; under the tightness of his jaw. "If I was you, I couldn't touch me either."_

" _What? No, it's not … It's not what you think; I'm just overwhelmed by your presence." The blonde shook her head; cascade of blond curls falling on her shoulders. "It's been two long years, Klaus…" She added, tremors in her voice. "Can you blame me?"_

" _No, I can't blame you, Carolina." The hybrid shook his head himself; slowly raising his right hand to grab one of her long curls. "You've grown your hair?" He commented, a shy smile spreading on his lips, while enrolling a stand around his fingers. "I like it." He added, before lowering his hand without adding any more comment._

_Carolina held her breath; range of shivers spreading in her spine._

" _The blonde boy …" He asked, emotionally; knowing by instinct that she would know how to answer this unformulated question._

" _You're wondering about the blonde boy that you saw by my side? Yes, he's your son." Carolina nodded, slowly raising her sight in his._

" _What … What is his name?" Klaus inquired._

" _Please, don't be mad at me." Carolina begged for his indulgence._

" _Carolina, I could never be mad at you…Whatever you've chosen to name our son, it'll be fine by me." He nodded, a shy smile raising the delicious curves of his full lips. "I lost any say in my son's life, the day I left you in the middle of your pregnancy."_

" _It wasn't the middle of my pregnancy." She shook her head._

" _What do you mean?" Klaus inquired, frowning._

" _The pregnancy was not what we could call a regular pregnancy. I gave birth soon after… Soon, after you had left." She explained._

" _Who…" He raised an eyebrow._

" _Your mother… I mean; she gave birth to our son." Carolina informed him._

" _I thought it would be her." Klaus nodded, expressionless._

" _It's Christopher …" She started enumerating, waiting for his reaction. "Christopher Ludvic Mikael Mikaelson."_

" _I see." Klaus responded after a few minutes of silence; his right hand raised over his chest._

" _Please say something? Are you mad at me for choosing these middle names?" Carolina nervously rubbed her hands together._

" _No, Carolina… I understand why you did it." The Original responded, truthfully. "Both of his grandfathers are Christopher's heritage."_

" _Yes, and they are your heritage too." Carolina grabbed both of his hands in hers. "I know why you left, Klaus; I know how much darkness, ugliness and pain has filled your heart over the centuries. And after they both died, you simply…Lost it." She added, bringing his hands to her lips to kiss them; with much emotion filling her voice. "You were lost inside of yourself; you needed to rebuild your self-esteem brick by brick."_

" _Don't pity me, Carolina; I don't deserve it." Klaus shook his head; tears rolling fluently on his cheeks. "I … I left you, once again. How could … How could you even look at me?" He lowered his head and sight, in shamefulness._

" _Because…" Carolina grabbed his bearded chin to raise his head, sight now locked back in hers. "I must be crazy, I know; but I can't help myself." She shook her head. "I would have … I would have waited a thousand years for you to come back, only to see your face one more time."_

" _Why would you … Why would you wait for a man like me?" He inquired, an indescribable pain filling his chest._

" _Because... I have deep feelings of love for you, Nicklaus Mikaelson. It is as simple as that." Carolina replied, a single tear rolling on her left cheek. "But…" She lowered her head. "I would understand that after such a long time; you've probably met …"_

" _No, Carolina!" The cry escaped his lips; his fingers grabbing her chin to raise her sight back in his. "The past two years, my hands have never touched another woman, my heart never has beaten once for anyone but you." He confessed, under their hold of breaths. "Why is he so developed for his age?"_

" _We don't know. After your father's death, there was no way of knowing." She shook her head. "He's just growing up faster than other boys of his age. But, he's perfectly healthy. I can at least reassure you of that fact."_

" _Any signs of supernatural manifestations?" Klaus wondered, out loud._

" _Many. We are taking it one day at a time." Carolina nodded. "Please, tell me that you won't leave again? Please, tell me that you'll meet him? He needs you in his life, Klaus."_

" _Is it … Is it wise, Carolina?" He shrugged, apologetically. "Do I have anything left in me to give to that young boy?"_

" _You have plenty to give; if it was otherwise you wouldn't be kneeling in front of me." Carolina protested._

" _Do I have anything left in me to give to you, then?" He asked the relevant question; colors leaving Carolina's face all at once._

" _If you don't … I'll give you time with your son; and we'll part ways, while finding a common ground to raise him together." She raised back on her legs; her right hand placed in front of her lips to hold her sobbing. "We'll get a divorce and … I'm sorry, I need to leave." She concluded, raising the skirt of her sundress, before turning on her heels to run away from him; her feet sinking into the sand, while her vision blurred more and more by the tears filling her eyes._

" _Carolina, wait, please … Carolina!" Klaus yelled, rushing to grab her arm; but oddly enough even her normal speed was faster than his?_

* * *

_Carolina reached a small cove; away from the tourists' eyes. She lowered her speed, lowering her forehead on a large rock; tears still rolling on her cheeks, down her neck._

" _Why didn't you tell me that you were a vampire now?" She heard the hoarsely voice ask her. Obviously, he had catch up with her._

" _Does it change anything?" She shrugged, sniffling the rest of her sobbing; before turning on herself to face her husband._

" _What happened?" Klaus asked, hands placed on each side of his hips._

" _I lost a lot of blood at the birth of our son." She started her tale. "Your mother gave me her blood to reinforce my immune system; but … I was still weak and near death."_

" _My mother turned you?" Klaus concluded, more than ask._

" _Yes." She nodded; nervously rubbing her hands together. "Please, don't be mad at her. I know you were against it; but Christopher needed a mother, and …"_

" _I'm not mad, Love." The hybrid shook his head, compassionate. "I'm just surprised; you seem the same, that's all."_

" _I'm the same. Except for drinking blood every day." Carolina shrugged, a shy smile spreading on her lips._

" _I'm so sorry, Carolina – All of this is my fault." Klaus shook his head, repentant; pacing back and forth in front of his wife. "If I hadn't searched for a wife in Russia; you would still be human as we speak."_

" _Human perhaps… But loveless." She replied, truthful._

" _Loving me gave you heartache and sufferance." The hybrid replied, spiteful at life, but mostly at himself._

" _Loving you gave me courage, understanding, compassion, forgiveness/" Carolina started enumerating on her right hand. "But, most of all, loving you gave me Christopher. Loving you is like breathing to me, Klaus." Carolina replied, truthful._

" _I abused you, both physically and mentally, I abandoned you more than once; how can you even look at me." Klaus turned on himself to face her; cupping the delicate features of her face in both of his hands._

" _I'm looking at the man that I love more than life itself, right now." Carolina replied; strong emotions filling her heart and soul. "You did abused me both physically and mentally, you did abandoned me more than once; but I still love you. I wasn't able to leave, because my heart belonged to you, Klaus. How hard it is for you to understand?" She confessed, grabbing both of his wrists. "Love is forgiveness, and forgive you, I did and I do."_

" _Carolina…" Klaus pronounced his wife's name in a low whisper; softly caressing the roundness of her cheeks. "I don't deserve you, sweetness." He shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks and jaw. "I don't deserve your love."_

" _You deserve way more." She whispered, raising herself on her tip toes to brush his lips of a kiss._

_Klaus startled at the intimate contact of her warm lips; his eyes kept opened. It has been years of celibate; and the subtle brush of her lips and breasts on his t-shirt set his body in fire._

" _Do you love me?" Carolina mouthed the question on his parted lips; fear of being disappointed infiltrating her heart._

" _Oh, Love…More than life itself; do you even have to ask?" Klaus responded, softly nibbling on her bottom lip._

" _Then show me." Carolina begged of him. "Show me the love you have in your heart for me."_

_The hybrid let a loud growl escape his lips, both of his hands sliding on the delicious curves of his wife's body, before grabbing her buttocks to raise the blonde bombshell in his arms; her legs now wrapped around his waist, while her body was being pushed on a large rock, his lips passionately crashing on hers._

_Carolina moaned loudly, while sliding her hands on his bulged chest; finding the hem of his t-shirt to raise it above his head._

" _I need to touch your skin, it has been too long." She explained, her hands wrapping behind his neck._

" _I won't be happy until my lips will bless every inch of your body, Love." Klaus replied, pushing the straps of her dress down, before his lips could bless the curve of her neck, valley of her breasts; with his fingers softly pinching her erected nipples._

" _Klaus!" She let the loud cry slip her parted lips; being carried and lay down on the sand._

" _Until my hand has felt the heat in the deepness of your core." He added, sensually; slowly sliding his right hand between her legs to raise the fabric of her summer dress up on her thighs and hips. His finger finally meeting with her panties, before parting the soft fabric to feel her wetness. "Oh Love, it's been way too long!" He whispered, his lips meeting hers; while his fingers make her cry with pleasure._

* * *

_Klaus Mikaelson, and his wife Carolina walked in silence, hand in hand along the beach; with the single sound of waves hitting the large rocks. Their love filling all the words that could have been spoken._

" _Oh dear…" Carolina raised her head and sight, her left hand placed as a visor on her forehead, while noticing the rapid approach of their family members._

" _On a scale of one to ten; how pissed is my brother at me?" Klaus questioned, swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _A good twenty." Carolina replied, squeezing his hand to grant him comfort and reassurance._

" _Your sister?" Klaus turned his head, taking a quick glance at his wife and love of his life._

" _I'm not sure there's a number high enough to describe how mad Katerina is at you, to be truthful." The blonde vampire replied, with a single shrug._

" _Well, that's reassuring." The hybrid commented, a sour smile plastered on his face._

" _But they love you with all their hearts… Well, my sister is getting there, but still… don't forget that fact, would you?" Carolina encouraged him, with a sincere smile._

" _I'll try for you, Love." Klaus promised, raising her right hand to place a kiss on her wrist._

" _I don't know what could hold me back for crashing my fist into your face, Nicklaus?!" Elijah spat, bare feet, while approaching their standing positions; a straight finger pointed toward the hybrid's chest._

" _You would have all the right in the world; Elijah." Klaus replied, raising both opened palms in the air. "Do it; I won't fight you back."_

" _Oh, no, no, no … You will fight back! You'll act like a man for once in your life!" The Originals circled his own brother; the hems of his trousers pants brushing the sand. "Two fucking years, Nicklaus; I scattered the entire planet to find you; where were you for God sake?"_

" _Amazon." Klaus responded, truthfully._

" _Amazon?" Elijah repeated, in shock; with both opened arms. Probably the only place he hasn't look for him – Bastard! "You got to be kidding me?" He passed a rapid hand through his tick dark hair. "You son of a bitch!"_

" _Mother would love to hear you say that." Klaus commented, half serious-half mocker._

" _Just shut-up, you hear me!" Elijah pointed the same finger underneath his brother's nose. "Two years, Nicklaus; two years of trying to find you to bring you back to your wife and son."_

" _I needed time, brother; can you at least acknowledge that fact?" Klaus asked for his brother's indulgence._

_Elijah stared at his brother for a few seconds, before reprising his pacing around his prey; a loud growl escaping his throat._

" _I forgave him; maybe you could find within yourself the strength to do the same, Elijah?" Carolina suggested. "I will always be so grateful for your presence in my son's life."_

" _He's my nephew, Carolina; it was my duty as his uncle to take care of him in the absence of his father; at least the few first years of his life." Elijah replied; still pissed as hell._

" _Thank you, Elijah; for being what I was never being able to be, before this day." Klaus thanked his brother, truthfully._

" _Before this day, really?" Elijah inquired, with a raised eyebrow. "Or until your next escape?"_

" _No, I'm not running away anymore; Elijah." Klaus shook his head. "I came back to the ones I love, I came back to my wife and son, forever."_

" _Well, you better tell the truth this time, Klaus; or I swear…" Elijah mumbled, under clenched teeth; closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _Duly noted, brother." Klaus nodded, a shy smile raising both corners of his lips._

" _I'm going to kill him!" Katerina rushed toward her brother-in-law, taking great strides to reach the small group; right hand raised in the air to prepare her blow._

" _Katerina, no!" Elijah intercepted his wife; enrolling a strong arm around her waist to pull her back. "Calm down, my love; please?" He whispered near her right ear._

" _Calm down? I'll be calm the minute my hand will slap this asshole on his face." Katerina spat to Klaus's face; fists and feet kicking in all directions._

" _Though, I truly like when you're this passionate in our bedroom; this is not the time to cause more trouble." Elijah whispered, more._

" _Let her go, Elijah; I deserve to hear what your wife has to say to my face." Klaus ordered his brother._

" _As you wish!" Elijah released his wife; who rushed to her brother-in-law' standing position._

" _Katerina, please, don't do this … I forgave him!" Carolina tried to retain her sister, with a grip on her right forearm; but without succeeding._

" _You're a jerk, Klaus Mikaelson! You left my sister and her son alone for two tucking years!" Katerina spat to his face; chin raised, closed fists hitting his bulged chest, repeatedly._

" _You're right; I'm a fucking jerk, Katerina." Klaus agreed, closed fists placed on each side of his tensed body._

" _What? Since when do you agree with what I have to say to you?" Katerina stopped; amazement plastered on her face._

" _Since it's the truth." Klaus responded. "I've been an asshole to my wife, son, mother, sister, brothers, to you even…"_

" _To me even?" Katerina crossed her arms in front of her chest, sight narrowed on the hybrid._

" _Well, it's not like we were in the best of terms, would you say?" Klaus commented; wincing._

" _I would say." Katerina replied, with a loud sigh escaping her red lips._

" _I'm truly sorry… I wanted your sister to be happy; and … In my mind, the only way she could reach that happiness was without me, and without all the heartache I could cause her and my son." Klaus tried to explain his motives._

" _I see." The brunette vampire replied, her full lips kept in a thin line._

" _I'm not expecting you to forgive me anytime soon, but…" Klaus tried to explain more._

" _You got that right; it will take me a long time, if not forever." Katerina pointed a finger at him._

" _Fair enough." The hybrid agreed, with a single nod; while Carolina and Elijah exchanged a smile._

" _Nicklaus Mikaelson, I'm coming for you; asshole!" Rebekah yelled; while approaching all of their standing positions, near the ocean._

" _Oh for God sake Elijah; why did you forget to mention that Bekah was here?" Klaus growled at his brother._

" _And forbid myself the joy to see the surprise on your face, never brother!" Elijah winked, enjoying his revenge; a large grin appearing on his lips._

" _What's wrong with you?" Rebekah struck her brother, with both closed fists. "Why did you do leave Carolina?"_

" _Rebekah, for God sake, if you could stop hitting me; I could perhaps explain myself." Klaus tried to defend himself, to the best of his capacity; while not losing his temper._

" _Then talk!" Rebekah ordered him; both closed fists now placed on each side of her waist._

" _You could have waited for me, Bekah?" Stefan Salvatore spat, angrily and out of breaths; while rushing to reach her side. "As for you, you're really an asshole, you know that?" He pointed his finger toward his best friend._

" _So, I've heard about a thousand times, today." Klaus shook his head; calmly. "With the addition of pointed fingers to my chest."_

" _Well, let's make it a thousand and one then." Stefan added; angrily. "What were you even thinking?"_

" _I wasn't, Salvatore; that was my problem to start with." Klaus shrugged, apologetically. "Why are you so bothered by my actions, anyway?"_

" _Because, I'm part of the family now,_ **brother** _!" Stefan grinned, raising both of his eyebrows in a comical way._

" _Brother?" Klaus narrowed his sight on the young vampire. "Elijah - Explanation, now?" He turned his head to glance at his biological sibling._

" _Stefan wedded our sister, in Vegas." Elijah shrugged, huge smirk raising both corners of his manly lips._

" _You got that right?" Stefan nodded, proudly; trying to hide his amusement. "Elvis married us."_

" _Vegas and Elvis?" Klaus rapidly glanced in direction of his sister; biting into his bottom lip to retain his laughter. "Was she drugged and tied to the bench when she said yes to you?"_

" _Very funny, Kaus; I'm still waiting for your explanation you know?" Rebekah narrowed her fiery sight on her brother; obviously not amused by their exchange of jokes._

" _Well, welcome to this family, Salvatore." Klaus shook his friend's hand. "I couldn't have chosen a better man to tame my sister." He added, with a wink._

" _You're such a jerk!" Rebekah exclaimed, shaking her head._

" _I appreciate the vote of confidence, coming from you." Stefan replied, teasingly; while returning a strong shake._

" _As for you, sister. I'm sorry, Bekah; I acted like the biggest asshole – I just needed time to realize it." The hybrid presented his deepest apology._

" _Did you forgive him?" Bekah turned her head toward her sister-in-law. "You're an angel if you did, Carolina?"_

" _I forgave him, a long time ago; I was just waiting for him to come back to me and our son." Carolina nodded, with a comforting smile; while grabbing her husband's left hand._

" _There's something we need to tell you." Stefan said; approaching his friend._

" _Talk." Klaus nodded._

" _It's about Anastassia." Stefan added, swallowing a lump in his throat._

" _What about her?" Klaus scattered the small group; noticing they have all lowered their heads, discomfort plastered on their faces._

" _She's alive." Rebekah nodded, a shy smile spreading on her lips._

" _Don't do this, Bekah." The hybrid replied, with a drier tone of voice and a single shake of his head. "I know you're mad at me; but this is cruel."_

" _It's the truth, Klaus; she's alive." Elijah confirmed, with a nod._

" _She was dead; there's no way she could be alive now." Klaus refused to believe it._

" _Vittorio managed to bring her back; using dark magic." Carolina explained, calmly, to him._

" _But there's a loophole; she's human now and can't be turned back as a vampire." Stefan continued to explain._

" _Where is she now? In Italy?" Klaus inquired, in shock._

" _No; she's with Damon, in France. He's trying to find a way to reverse the spell; and give her a chance to an eternal life." Stefan explained. "There's a lead of a powerful warlock that could help her. I can't tell you much more than that."_

" _I see." The hybrid replied. "Well, if there is someone more stubborn than me; it's your brother. He'll find a way."_

" _I know that regardless of what you could say; you got attached to her." Rebekah commented. "And she's your sister too after all."_

_Klaus nodded, unable to articulate his real feelings for his half-sister; but willing to open his heart to the possibility._

" _Nicklaus has the biggest heart; that's the reason why he needs to run away sometimes; when his emotions are taking the best of him." The female patriarch voice filled the silence; making them turn their heads to glance at Maria._

" _Mother?" Klaus called her._

" _Hello Nicklaus, you came home?" She added, with a smile. "Give your mother a hug, please?"_

" _I came home." He nodded, emotionally; before shortening the space between them to hug his mother._

" _I'm sorry about the loss of both your fathers." Maria whispered to her son's ears only; while caressing the base of his neck. "And I'm sorry for turning Carolina."_

" _It's ok, and thank you for all you did for her and my son." He whispered, himself, with much emotions; before gently pushing himself at arm length._

" _Hello." He heard the soft call of the young boy; before lowering his sight on his son._

_George, Elijah's bodyguard was holding a young blond boy by the shoulders; his deep blue eyes meeting the hybrid's sight in an inquiring look._

" _Hello." Klaus replied; his knees hitting the sand in front of his son._

" _Are you my dad?" Christopher asked, taking a few steps to reach his father's kneeling position._

" _Yes, I believe I am." Klaus nodded, tears filling his eyes._

" _He came back, mummy?" The young boy raised his head to glance at his mother, a huge smile spreading on his face._

" _I know, sweetheart; I've told you that one day your father would be back." Carolina nodded, tears rolling fluently on her cheeks, as well._

" _Mummy is crying." Christopher commented to his dad._

" _Sometimes, I make your mother cry." Klaus commented._

" _Me too." The young boy commented, with a nod. "I'm Christopher, by the way." He handed his small right hand to the hybrid._

" _I'm Nicklaus." He replied, shaking his son's hand._

" _Excuse-me." Rebekah brushed a tear from the corner of her eyes; the sudden loud ringtone startling everybody. She buried her right hand in her jeans' front pocket to pull her cellphone out. "It's Kol!" She finally informed, noticing the caller identification, before answering the call by placing the device near her right ear. "Yes, he's here. Stop yelling for God sake. I'll put you on speaker."_

" _Is Klaus near?" Kol asked, loudly; through the device. "Can he hear me?"_

" _Yes, Klaus and the entire country of Italy can hear you now." Rebekah confirmed, while rolling her eyes._

" _What's your fucking problem, Mikaelson? Abandoning your wife, son and family for two years, just like that?" Kol's angry voice filled the quietness of the beach. "It's the kind of bullshit that I would pull; but you, you're not allowed to do it. Do you hear me?"_

" _I would need to be deaf not to hear you, Kol!" Klaus mumbled, under clenched teeth. "My son is here, by the way."_

" _Hello Christopher!" Kol saluted with a kinder tone of voice. "I bought you a giant Koala as a gift!"_

" _Hello uncle Kol!" Christopher responded, near the device. "Cool!"_

" _Well, you better stay put in Italy, because I'm coming for you; and I swear my closed right fist is going to meet your face soon enough – if it's not my baseball bat!" Kol warned his brother, dryly._

" _Duly noted." Klaus added, with a loud sigh._

" _What you mean you're coming back to Italy? Did you manage to find Bonnie?" Rebekah asked, a huge grin spreading on her lips._

" _Yes, in Australia! She's handcuffed to my wrist as we speak!" Kol confirmed; with a small laughter. "No way will she escape me this time. She's not very happy about it, but I couldn't care less. We'll take the first plane back to Italy tomorrow morning."_

" _Ewww…" The general audience responded, wincing at the mere thought of Bonnie being handcuffed to Kol._

" _Give me the phone, Kol!" They all heard Bonnie's voice, smiles spreading on their faces._

" _Bonnie, is it you?" Rebekah inquired._

" _Yes, it's me – Your asshole of a brother is being a pain in my butt!" Bonnie yelled through the device._

" _Do you love him?" Rebekah asked, with a small laughter._

" _What?" Bonnie asked, surprised. "What kind of question is that?"_

" _Just answer me." The blonde Original asked, once more._

" _Sometimes…" The witch replied, with a low whisper. "He's handcuffed to me… Or I'm handcuffed to him; so I can't speak louder."_

" _I'll take that as a yes." Rebekah confirmed. "Then, come back to Italy with the man you love, Bonnie; it's time to come back to your family now." She added, before closing the cellphone._

" _Well, as for all of us, I suggest we all go back home and enjoy Isabella's dinner." Maria suggested, all smile. "For once, my entire family will be sitting at the same table, by my side." She added, joyfully._

" _Hear, hear!" Stefan raised his right fist in the air._

" _Minus Kol and Bonnie." George wrapped his left arm around Maria's waist; taking their first steps in the sand, to reach back their mansion._

" _They are on their way." Maria commented, raising her sight in her lover's._

" _Maybe tonight I could ask your hand in marriage to both or your eldest sons?" George suggested; blessing her forehead of a sweet kiss._

" _You're not obligated to…" She started explaining, before being shushed with one of George's finger placed on her parted lips._

" _I know that I'm not obligated to do this – I want to do it, because I love you, Maria Mikaelson; and I want to marry you." He explained; lowering his head to bless her lips of a tender kiss._

" _Daddy?" Christopher pulled on Klaus's cargo pants. "Will you tell me stories before I go to bed tonight?"_

_Klaus felt his chest raise in the air; being hit by an invisible punch in his stomach._

" _Are you ok?" Carolina asked, squeezing her husband's hand._

" _Yes, I'm ok, Love." He replied, raising his head to stare at his wife. "What kind of story would you like to hear, young man?"_

" _I want to hear where you've been the past two years; all the adventures you had to experience." The young boy asked, excitement filling his voice._

" _Then you shall hear that." Klaus replied, raising his right hand to caress his son's head._

" _Come Christopher; your uncle need to talk to your father." Katerina took her nephew's hand; pulling the young boy behind her own steps._

" _You'll stay with us now, daddy?" Christopher asked; while turning his head to glance at his father, one last time. "Forever?"_

" _Forever, it's a promise." Klaus nodded, tears filling his eyes._

" _Thank you." Elijah mouthed the words to his wife._

" _I love you." Katerina mouthed back. "Sweet kisses from Russia." She blow him a kiss._

" _I love you more, Katerina." He replied, truthfully, and with a single wink; seeing them leave behind the small group._

" _I'm proud of you." Carolina hugged her husband; blessing his bearded cheeks of a kiss. "But, the beard needs to go."_

" _Deal." Klaus replied, pulling his wife in the comfort of his arms; his lips meeting hers. "Now go; I'll be home soon." He gave her a friendly slap on the bottom._

" _I love you, Klaus Mikaelson." Carolina confessed, happily._

" _I love you more, Carolina Mikaelson." He replied, all smile; waiting a short while for her to walk at a distance. "What is it, Elijah?" He finally turned his sight toward his brother._

" _Petrov's army of hybrids has been on a sabbatical since you've left." Elijah informed his brother, hands placed on each side of his waist. "They received Petrov's strict order to wait for your return."_

" _How many?" Klaus inquired, with a narrowed sight._

" _A thousand men, maybe more." Elijah shrugged. "It's your heritage, Klaus; you can accept it or denying your right to become their leader."_

" _I can't do this alone, Elijah." Klaus shook his head. "You are the moral compass of this family, I need you by my side "if" we decide to do this I couldn't imagine doing it without you." He added, both hands placed on his brother's shoulders._

" _Let me think about it, would you? It's not a decision that I'll take lightly." Elijah replied. "In the meantime, brother; it's been a while since we sat at the same table." He added, sliding his right arm around Klaus's shoulders._

" _A long time indeed, Elijah." Klaus replied, a huge smile spreading on his lips; joy filling his heart and soul._

_**He was finally home…** _

* * *

_**Tapachula city, Mexico…** _

_The small bar located near the beach of Tapuchula was filled with locals and a few tourists who were cheering and toasting loudly with their Tequila shots and glasses of beers raised in the air. A few Mariachis placed at the corner of the room, strumming the cords of their guitars, with their melancholic voices singing the lyrics._

_One imposing, dark hair with grey strands, bearded man was standing at the far edge of the bar counter, slowly sipping his bottle of beer; his sight lost in the grandness of the ocean._

" _Who would have thought that we would be both stock in here, one day?" A male companion appeared by his side, snapping his fingers at the bartender._

" _What will it be Senor?" The short and corpulent Mexican man asked._

" _Double shots of Tequila." The man called with a dry voice._

" _Si Senor." The bartender nodded; grabbing a small glass to fill it to the edge, before sliding it in front of the customer._

" _What got your underwear in a twist tonight?" The bearded man asked his companion, taking another gulp of his beer to hide his grin._

" _I'm suffering from arthritis! My fingers are literally curving …. LOOK!" The salt and pepper hair man showed both of his hands, a sour expression plastered on his face._

" _What were you expecting in your old age anyway?" The bearded man shrugged, mostly amused. "And it's you who wanted to come to Mexico – Because of your arthritis, you've said – The Ocean and hot climate would do you good, you've said – remember?"_

" _Fat chance! It's hurting me more than ever." Mikael Mikaelson gulped the entirety of his double shots; wincing at the taste. "Shit! I can't even hold my alcohol anymore." He swore, under clenched teeth; wiping the corners of his mouth with the back of his right hand._

" _Well, when you'll be rolling on the floor, drunk as you can be; I'll be able to sip my beer quietly." Ludvic Petrov commented, teasingly._

" _Go fuck yourself!" Mikael snapped back; asking the bartender for a second refill._

" _No, I think I'll fuck the pretty Mexican woman who's lurking in my direction instead." Petrov commented, winking at the middle age – good looking woman who suddenly blushed under the Russian man's examination of her many charms._

" _Fuck the pretty Mexican woman?" Mikael tilted his head toward the back, busting into loud laughter, while stroking his watery eyes. "Man, the last time you've tried to … You know, "fuck", you needed a blue pill, and it still did not worked at the end."_

" _Shush! Would you lower your voice for God sake; Mikaelson!" Ludvic warned him, with darted eyes and a pointed finger underneath his nose._

" _Ok, ok…" Mikael lowered his head and nose in his glass of Tequila; before gulping it entirely. "Shit! This hurts like a bitch!" He exclaimed, loudly. "You know, the person responsible for all our misery is entirely your warlock: Vittorio!"_

" _Just be grateful that he was able to bring both of us back to life as humans, Mikael, with in addition my beautiful daughter, Anastassia; and stop whining about it all the time!" Ludvic replied, under clenched teeth. "And Vittorio did this, even if his life is now in jeopardy for doing so."_

" _Don't tell me you are finding this all experience as a human, an enjoyable one?" The eldest of the Mikaelsons asked, dumbfounded._

" _No, I'm not finding it enjoyable at all. But, instead of whining all the time, I'm thinking of a way out." Petrov signed the waiter to bring two more bottles of beer, before handing one to his companion._

" _There's not fucking way out!" Mikael growled, lowering his head near Ludvic's. "Vittorio told us that we would be stuck in our human forms until our … Well, real deaths this time – It's the price to pay, Petrov!"_

" _There's always a way out, Mikael!" Ludvic grabbed the Original's right forearm to give it a squeeze. "I wouldn't have been glorified as their "King" if I wasn't a fighter to start with."_

" _And in the meantime?" Mikael inquired with an arched eyebrow. "What is there left to do?"_

" _Well, the sea, the ocean, beers, Tequila, and women?" Petrov shrugged, under the loud sigh of annoyance of Mikael. "You know what? Let's make a toast on the single fact that our sons are about to become the leaders of my army of hybrids. It would have never happened if we were still alive. They would have fought us, fangs and claws out!" He grinned, raising his bottle of beer in the air. "Let's keep both of us death until they'll be up to their chins in their new power trip!"_

" _I like how you think, my friend, but… But, technically, we're not dead?" Mikael shook his head; still toasting with his friend. "You're still the leader of your own army."_

" _News flash for you: They know nothing about that fact, and let's keep it that way!" Petrov winked, playfully; raising his bottle one more time. "Another toast to your beautiful ex-wife and my beautiful ex-lover: Ingrid Esther Maria Mikaelson; I hope she'll find happiness with her bozo vampire George, until we'll be back in her life to wreck this shame of relationship."_

" _That would mean we'll once again be both in competition to win her back?" Mikeal titled his head, a grin spreading on his lips; hitting his bottle, one more time, with Petrov's. "I like the thought of that."_

" _Exactly! It will be fun?" Ludvic let a small laughter escape his lips. "It will be like old time, my friend!"_

" _My turn." Mikael strengthened his shoulders, raising his bottle one additional time in the air. "To Christopher, your grandson, may he be the "King" of a new species one day."_

" _I hope he'll be, indeed? And technically, he's your grandson too." Petrov toasted, with much emotion in his voice, taking an additional gulp of the amber liquid. "I can't wait to hold him in my arms. But for the time being, it has to wait."_

" _Hello Senor, do you care to dance?" The beautiful Mexican woman, who was staring at Petrov a few moments before, saluted with much shyness and enthusiasm._

" _Well, good evening, beautiful; do I care to dance?" Petrov repeated, charmingly. "Do I care to dance, Mikael?"_

" _Just disappear from my sight, asshole!" Mikael replied, laughter filling his voice, before pushing his friend toward the Mexican woman and the dance floor._

_Mikael stared at Ludvic and the woman for a few seconds, a large grin plastered on his lips; before raising his bottle one final time in the air._

" _May all of our children find happiness, regardless of our past errors, and in better ways that we ever did. Cheers, my friend!"_

_**~ The End ~** _

_So I say for now ;)_

_e about to become the leaders of my army of hybrids. It would have never happened if we were still alive. They would have fought us, fangs and claws out!" He grinned, raising his bottle of beer in the air. "Let's keep both of us death until they'll be up to their chins in their new power trip!"_

" _I like how you think, my friend, but… But, technically, we're not dead?" Mikael shook his head; still toasting with his friend. "You're still the leader of your own army."_

" _News flash for you: They know nothing about that fact, and let's keep it that way!" Petrov winked, playfully; raising his bottle one more time. "Another toast to your beautiful ex-wife and my beautiful ex-lover: Ingrid Esther Maria Mikaelson; I hope she'll find happiness with her bozo vampire George, until we'll be back in her life to wreck this shame of relationship."_

" _That would mean we'll once again be both in competition to win her back?" Mikeal titled his head, a grin spreading on his lips; hitting his bottle, one more time, with Petrov's. "I like the thought of that."_

" _Exactly! It will be fun?" Ludvic let a small laughter escape his lips. "It will be like old time, my friend!"_

" _My turn." Mikael strengthened his shoulders, raising his bottle one additional time in the air. "To Christopher, your grandson, may he be the "King" of a new species one day."_

" _I hope he'll be, indeed? And technically, he's your grandson too." Petrov toasted, with much emotion in his voice, taking an additional gulp of the amber liquid. "I can't wait to hold him in my arms. But for the time being, it has to wait."_

" _Hello Senor, do you care to dance?" The beautiful Mexican woman, who was staring at Petrov a few moments before, saluted with much shyness and enthusiasm._

" _Well, good evening, beautiful; do I care to dance?" Petrov repeated, charmingly. "Do I care to dance, Mikael?"_

" _Just disappear from my sight, asshole!" Mikael replied, laughter filling his voice, before pushing his friend toward the Mexican woman and the dance floor._

_Mikael stared at Ludvic and the woman for a few seconds, a large grin plastered on his lips; before raising his bottle one final time in the air._

" _May all of our children find happiness, regardless of our past errors, and in better ways that we ever did. Cheers, my friend!"_

_**~ The End ~** _

_So I say for now ;)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this saga story, guys!   
> Thank you for your kudos - For you comments - It went directly to my heart :))


End file.
